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Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander goes to sleep hoping to wake up on lunar sunrise

ISRO chief S Somanath had earlier said the lunar mission's rover and Lander would be put to "sleep" to withstand the night on the Moon.

Sumit Jha

Published Sep 04, 2023 | 7:45 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 04, 2023 | 7:46 PM

Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander goes to sleep hoping to wake up on lunar sunrise

the lander was crucial for gathering valuable information about the moon’s environment and geological features.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Monday, 4 September, announced that Chandrayaan-3 Lander, Vikram, was set in sleep mode, a day after the rover, Pragyan, went to sleep.

“Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST (8 am) 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,” ISRO said in an update on micro-blogging site X.

The payloads were switched off and the “Lander receivers are kept on,” ISRO said.

“Vikram will fall asleep next to Pragyan once the solar power is depleted and the battery is drained. Hoping for their awakening, around September 22, 2023,” the space agency said.

ISRO chief S Somanath had earlier said the lunar mission’s rover and Lander would be put to “sleep” to withstand the night on the Moon.

Also Read: 2 ISRO scientists, alumni of TN govt schools, recall how it was

A hop before sleep

Before the Lander went into sleep mode, Vikram successfully underwent a hop test when it made the soft landing again on the lunar surface.

On command it (Vikram Lander) fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 to 40 cm away, ISRO said.

Noting that Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives, ISRO said the ‘kick-start’ enthuses future sample return and human missions.

“Vikram soft-landed on the moon, again! Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30-40 cm away,” ISRO said in a post on X.

“Importance?: This ‘kick-start’ enthuses future sample return and human missions! All systems performed nominally and are healthy. Deployed Ramp, ChaSTE and ILSA were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment,” the space agency added.

India scripted history by soft-landing the Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface on August 23.

India became the fourth country to land on the lunar surface and first to ever reach the South Pole.

 

The work of Lander

The Lander module carried payloads for conducting experiments such as measuring thermal conductivity, temperature assessment, monitoring seismic activity, and studying plasma density variations.

After the Lander module safely landed on the moon’s surface, the payloads began their work.

These payloads had different tasks. One of them, RAMBHA-LP, measured the density of charged particles like ions and electrons near the moon’s surface and observed changes.

Another payload called ChaSTE measured the temperature and other properties of the lunar surface near the polar region.

Lastly, ILSA helped in the detection and study of any seismic activity or vibrations near the landing site.

These instruments were crucial for gathering valuable information about the Moon’s environment and geological features.

Special devices, called altimeters, that can measure the height above the ground using lasers and radio waves were also among the payload, besides velocimeters that use lasers to measure the Lander’s speed.

Also Read: Pragyan rover takes pictures of Vikram Lander on moon surface

ISRO bereaved

Meanwhile, ISRO was left bereaved as N Valarmathi, the voice behind several launch countdowns, including Chandrayaan-3, passed away in Chennai following a cardiac arrest on Saturday, 2 September. She was 64.

ISRO’s former director PV Venkitakrishnan said on X that Chandrayaan-3 was her last mission.

Related: Scientist who lent her voice to ISRO countdowns no more

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