ISRO prepares for Chandrayaan 3 ‘sleep mode’ as lunar night nears, says Somanath
Chandrayaan 3 mission entering sleep mode as lunar night approaches; rover and lander still functional, said ISRO Chief S Somanath.
The Chandrayaan 3 mission is approaching the conclusion of its planned exploration period, which spans one lunar day equivalent to 14 Earth days. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now preparing to initiate a "sleep mode" operation for the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover as the lunar night approaches, during which temperatures are expected to plummet below -200 degrees Celsius, announced S Somanath, the chief of the Indian space agency on Saturday.
"The Pragyan rover and Vikram lander are still functional. We are commencing the process of placing both of them into sleep mode in the next one to two days as they need to tolerate the lunar night," Somanath said while delivering a congratulatory message after the successful launch of Aditya L1 sun mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
He further mentioned that the rover has covered a distance of approximately 100 meters from the lander.
ISRO shared a picture of the path taken by the Pragyan rover as part of the lunar exploration mission. It shows the total traverse distance as 101.4m.
Chandrayaan 3 mission progress report
ISRO has been sharing data from in situ scientific experiments conducted by the Chandrayaan 3 mission. Recently, the Indian space agency said that the Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) payload recorded an event, “appearing to be a natural one”, adding that the source of this event is under investigation.
Earlier, it was reported that the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) has successfully identified sulphur, along with other minor elements on the lunar terrain.
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the rover has already substantiated the presence of sulphur, adding to the growing body of knowledge about lunar composition and characteristics.
Aditya L1 launched
Aditya L1, India's first space-based mission to study the Sun, lifted off on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on Saturday.
Also read: Aditya L1 Sun mission live updates
The mission aims to observe the Sun's corona and understand its extreme heat.
