Image of Vikram lander launched by Indian Space Research Organisation. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
After the Chandrayaan-3’s rover Pragyan, the lander Vikram has been put into sleep mode. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday mentioned that it had put Vikram into sleep mode round 8 a.m.
“Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST today. Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads are performed at the new location. The data collected is received at the Earth. Payloads are now switched off. Lander receivers are kept on,” the ISRO mentioned.
On September 2, the area organisation mentioned that Pragyan had accomplished its assignments and it had been safely parked and set into sleep mode. Pragyan’s receiver had been stored on.
The ISRO added that Vikram would go to sleep subsequent to Pragyan as soon as the solar energy was depleted and the battery was drained. The ISRO is hoping that it could get up each Vikram and Pragyan on September 22. “Hoping for their awakening, around September 22, 2023,” it mentioned on Monday.
While saying that Pragyan would go to sleep mode, the ISRO had posted on X (previously Twitter): “Currently, the battery is fully charged .The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on. Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador.”
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The lander and the rover, with a mission life of 1 lunar day (14 earth days), have scientific payloads to hold out experiments on the lunar floor. Since its touchdown on the moon on August 23, they’ve carried out many in-situ measurements and brought footage.
“The lander and the rover will stay on the moon for 14 days until they get sunlight. When there is no sunlight, a small solar panel, which is on the rover, will generate power to charge the battery for the next 14 days until they get sunlight,” ISRO chairman S. Somanath had mentioned earlier.
Once the solar units on the moon, temperature can plunge beneath minus 200°C.
“The temperature there goes down to -200 minus degrees. In such an environment, there is no guarantee that the battery, electronics will survive, but we did some tests and we get the feeling that they will survive even in such harsh conditions,” Mr. Somanath had mentioned.
