Chandrayaan-3: ISRO hopes mission life of lander and rover will not be limited to one lunar day

Asgar Ali Karbalai said. (PTI) PM to congratulate scientists’ team in Bengaluru tomorrow

PTI, 24 August 2023 : After the successful deployment of Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover on the moon, ISRO is hoping that their mission life will not be limited to one lunar day or 14 earth days, and that they will come back to life when the sun again rises on the Moon, to carry on with the experiments and studies there. 

Following the deployment of the lander and rover, the systems on them are now ready to perform experiments one after the other so as to complete them within 14 earth days, before the pitch darkness and extreme cold weather engulfs the Moon.

The lander (Vikram) touched down near the south pole of the Moon at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, successfully completing one of the Chandrayaan-3 mission's stated objectives of soft landing on lunar surface.

Earlier today ISRO announced that the rover (Pragyan) rolled down from the lander, stating, "India took a walk on the Moon." ISRO had earlier said the 26 kg six-wheeled rover was scheduled to descend from the lander's belly on to the Moon's surface, using one of its side panels which acts as a ramp.

The lander and rover — with a total mass of 1,752kg — are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days) to study the surroundings there.

However, ISRO officials do not rule out the possibility of them coming back to life for another lunar day.

Explaining what would happen after the lander's soft landing and deployment of the rover, ISRO Chairman S Somnath had earlier said, "After this, all the experiments (by payloads on lander and rover) will take place one after the other — all of which have to be completed in just one day on the Moon, which is 14 (Earth) days." Noting that as long as the sun shines, all the systems will have its power, he said, "The moment the sun sets, everything will be in pitch darkness, temperature will go as down as low as minus 180 degree celsius. So it is not possible for the systems to survive, and if it survives further, then we should be happy that once again it has come to life and we will be able to work on the system once again." He said, "We hope it would happen that way." The rover will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.

It would study the surface of the Moon through its payloads APXS (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer) to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.

Another payload on the rover, the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), will derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.

The Moon's south pole region is also being explored because there is a possibility of water being present in permanently shadowed areas around it, according to ISRO officials.

The rover will send the data to the lander which will then send it to Earth. 

Asgar Ali Karbalai said. (PTI) PM to congratulate scientists’ team in Bengaluru tomorrow

PTI, 24 August 2023 : After the successful deployment of Chandrayaan-3's lander and rover on the moon, ISRO is hoping that their mission life will not be limited to one lunar day or 14 earth days, and that they will come back to life when the sun again rises on the Moon, to carry on with the experiments and studies there. 

Following the deployment of the lander and rover, the systems on them are now ready to perform experiments one after the other so as to complete them within 14 earth days, before the pitch darkness and extreme cold weather engulfs the Moon.

The lander (Vikram) touched down near the south pole of the Moon at 6.04 pm on Wednesday, successfully completing one of the Chandrayaan-3 mission's stated objectives of soft landing on lunar surface.

Earlier today ISRO announced that the rover (Pragyan) rolled down from the lander, stating, "India took a walk on the Moon." ISRO had earlier said the 26 kg six-wheeled rover was scheduled to descend from the lander's belly on to the Moon's surface, using one of its side panels which acts as a ramp.

The lander and rover — with a total mass of 1,752kg — are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 Earth days) to study the surroundings there.

However, ISRO officials do not rule out the possibility of them coming back to life for another lunar day.

Explaining what would happen after the lander's soft landing and deployment of the rover, ISRO Chairman S Somnath had earlier said, "After this, all the experiments (by payloads on lander and rover) will take place one after the other — all of which have to be completed in just one day on the Moon, which is 14 (Earth) days." Noting that as long as the sun shines, all the systems will have its power, he said, "The moment the sun sets, everything will be in pitch darkness, temperature will go as down as low as minus 180 degree celsius. So it is not possible for the systems to survive, and if it survives further, then we should be happy that once again it has come to life and we will be able to work on the system once again." He said, "We hope it would happen that way." The rover will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.

It would study the surface of the Moon through its payloads APXS (Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer) to determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the lunar landing site.

Another payload on the rover, the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), will derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further enhance understanding of the lunar surface.

The Moon's south pole region is also being explored because there is a possibility of water being present in permanently shadowed areas around it, according to ISRO officials.

The rover will send the data to the lander which will then send it to Earth. 

It deserves mention here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Bengaluru on August 26, to greet the ISRO scientists and officials for the successful landing of Candrayaan-3's lander and deployment of rover on moon's surface. The Karnataka BJP is planning a grand welcome for the Prime Minister by organising a mega road show in the city on his arrival, senior BJP leader and former Minister R Ashoka said on Thursday. 

"PM Narendra Modi is coming on August 26. We will be receiving him in big numbers with more than 6,000 people at HAL airport. There, he might address the people of Bengaluru. 

Our (BJP) national leader Santosh ji (General Sec B L Santosh) just spoke to me to organise a mega roadshow in Peenya, I have spoken to Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju on this," he said. Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the Prime Minister has given the opportunity to the people of Bengaluru to share this joy with him. 

"We the people of Bengaluru will give Modi a grand welcome, because ISRO means Benagluru and Bengaluru means ISRO. He is coming here to congratulate ISRO scientists," he added. 

Though the details of Prime Minister's visit have not been shared, he is likely to visit the Missions Operations Complex at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here to congratulate the scientists and officials of the space agency. 

The Prime Minister on Wednesday congratulated ISRO Chairman S Somanath on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and said he would soon visit them in Bengaluru to greet the entire team in person.