ISRO continues to revive Chandrayaan-3 Vikarm Lander and Pragyan rover

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) continues to make efforts to re-establish communication with the Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover. However, as of now, no signals have been received from either the Vikram Lander or the Pragyan rover, the agency said on Friday.

For the unversed, the Vikram Lander was set into sleep mode on September 4 next to its smaller companion - the Pragyan rover. They were expected to wake around Friday, September 22, 2023.

"Efforts have been made to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition. As of now, no signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue," the agency tweeted.

Chandrayaan-3's lander module soft landed on the Moon's South Pole on August 23, following which the lander rolled out the rover on the lunar surface. Vikram and Pragyan both completed their mission tasks.

The lander also conducted a successful hop experiment, during which it elevated itself by about 40 cm and landed safely at a distance of 30-40 cm away from its original position.

As for Pragyan, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard the rover confirmed the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region while the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) discovered the presence of interesting minor elements, including Sulfur.

After completing their respective assignments, the Vikram Lander and the Pragyan rover were set into Sleep mode.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:Efforts have been made to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition. As of now, no signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue.

— ISRO (@isro) September 22, 2023