Engineers at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have begun an attempt to wake up the Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander and rover from hibernation after two weeks of freezing nights on the Moon.
Friday (September 22), ISRO said in the post On X, formerly known as Twitter, Vikram lander and Pragyan rover To check their state of awakening. ”
So far, engineers have not heard from the iconic duo, the first two man-made objects to land on the moon’s south pole region.
“Efforts to establish contact will continue,” ISRO said in a post.
Related: India’s robotic moon probe Chandrayaan-3 does not have a heater. Will they be able to survive the frigid lunar night?
Chandrayaan-3 It landed near the moon’s south pole on August 23, making India the fourth country in history to land on the moon, after the United States, Russia, and China.
Over the next two weeks, Pragyan explored the landing site and transmitted images. earthMeanwhile, Vikram conducted a series of scientific experiments as follows. measure temperature The top layer of the lunar regolith. The spacecraft also analyzed the chemical composition of lunar dust and discovered traces of lunar dust. sulfurwhich may contain clues about past volcanic activity.
The playa explorer put to sleep On September 2nd, all instruments were turned off. The Vikram lander followed two days later. Although the mission accomplished its main mission objectives, ISRO is hopeful that the two spacecraft may have been able to survive the freezing lunar night.
Chandrayaan-3 was India’s second attempt to land on the moon. predecessor of the mission, Chandrayaan-2crashed in 2019 due to a software glitch. However, the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft is still studying the moon from lunar orbit.