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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Friday that it has received no signals from the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. The space agency is continuing its efforts to establish communication and ascertain their condition.
An official from ISRO earlier said that ground stations will try and revive the lander and rover and their on-board instruments on Thursday or Friday after dawn breaks on the Moon and after optimum sunshine is available. There is a very small chance of revival and it is possible that even if they both wake up, they are unable to regain full functionality.
All the modules of the mission are solar powered and were designed to last for just one lunar day or about 14 days on Earth. That time has already passed. The mission’s electronics were not designed to withstand the extreme nighttime conditions on the Moon. The temperature drops well below minus 200 degrees Celsius near the lunar south pole where the lander and rover are.
Some spacecraft are designed to survive the lunar night, like Russia’s Luna-25, which crash-landed on the Moon. The Russian Luna-25 mission had a plutonium radioisotope device, which can be thought of as a kind of nuclear battery, to generate heat that can keep instruments within an operable temperature. The Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover have no such provisions.
Despite that, after Chandrayaan-3 completed its main science objectives, ISRO decided to take the chance and try to extend the lifespan of the lander and rover. They shut down all operations of the instruments a little before lunar sunset and put them in sleep mode. This was done in the hope that if the batteries were fully charged, then they might be able to keep the instruments warm enough to survive the night.
