NEW DELHI, 24 SepIndian scientists will continue to try to establish communication with the lander and rover of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which are located at the south pole of the Moon, for another two weeks, Sridhara Somnath, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, told the Hindustan Times.
«We don't know when it will 'wake up'. It could be tomorrow, or it could be on the last day of the lunar day. But we are trying. If the lander and rover 'wake up,' it will be a great achievement,» Somnath said.
He noted that the main challenge for the Vikrama lander and the Pragyan rover will be to return to service after they withstand the minus 200 degrees Celsius temperature that sets in on the Moon during the lunar night.
India was the first in the world to successfully land a spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon on August 23. The robotic space station Chandrayaan-3 was launched into space on July 14 and entered lunar orbit on August 5. The Vikram lander separated from the station on August 17 and conducted two orbital reduction operations before landing. The Indian Space Research Organization also reported that the Indian rover Pragyan, delivered to the lunar south pole on Wednesday on board the Vikram lander, reached the surface of the Earth's natural satellite.
On January 2, the Indian Space Research Organization announced that the rover of the Indian space mission Chandrayaan-3 has completed its current tasks on the lunar surface and has been put into sleep mode until September 22, when the new lunar day begins. On the day appointed for waking up the devices, the Indian space agency reported that it could not establish communication with the devices, but would continue its attempts.