Digital Desk: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is scheduled to attempt the reactivation of the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 today, September 23, 2023. The lander and rover were placed in sleep mode on September 2 and 4, respectively, as the lunar night enveloped the south pole of the Moon.
ISRO scientists will send commands to the lander and rover to wake them up. If the reactivation is successful, the lander and rover will begin to transmit data and images back to Earth.
Yesterday, ISRO shared an update saying that it made efforts to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition, but as of now, no signals have been received from them. However, the space agency added that it would continue efforts to establish contact.
The reactivation of Chandrayaan-3 is a challenging task, as the lander and rover have been exposed to the extreme cold conditions of the lunar night. However, ISRO scientists are confident that the reactivation will be successful.
If ISRO is able to revive the lander and the rover, the information that is derived from experiments that could once again be conducted by the Chandrayaan-3 payloads would be a “bonus”. Former ISRO scientist Tapan Mishra said that confirming the presence of water would be the next important thing.