Chandriyaan-3: Dawn Breaks In, Lander And Rover Will Wake Up Soon (image-www.isdc.gov.in)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up to revive Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan) which were put on sleep mode after 14 days when the sun set on Moon, as the sun is about to rise on the moon for next 15 days.
An ISRO official said the ground stations will try and revive the lander and rover modules, and the on-board instruments on Thursday or Friday, after optimum sunshine is available.
The chances of complete revival are not very high but it is not a hopeless situation either. The revival will be easier if the sun rises on the Shivshakti Point, where lander and rover are parked. As soon as the light rays reaches them, they will come back to life, said ISRO Chairman S Somanath.
The attempt will be carried out on September 21 and 22. “We can only hope to see the equipment back to life on September 22,”he said.
The solar-powered Chandrayaan-3 modules were put in sleep mode in a phased manner and the process began on September 2. The module had a mission-life of just one lunar day which is equivalent to 14 days on earth. The modules were not designed to withstand the extreme cold night temperature on the moon. And thus, after the revival of the module, it will be a major challenge for ‘Pragyaan and Vikram’ to survive the chilling-200 degree Celsius. Only if they successfully survive this hurdle, the modules will be able to send the information to earth for next 14 days.
Spacecraft which are meant to survive the night are usually equipped with heating devices, but this was only put into practice by Russia in Luna-25. Unfortunately, Luna-25 failed to land on Moon. But Chandrayaan-3 is not expected to live more than one lunar day, says indianexpress.
Once the main objective is achieved, scientists have decided to expand the lifespan of the lander and rover. They have decided to shut down the operations of all instruments a little earlier than the sunset. And expected to keep it alive from the warmth acquired by charging the batteries.
Already, Chandrayaan-3 has collected some exciting new data about the Moon regarding its composition and environment. This includes a first-of-its-kind temperature profile of the lunar top-soil near the South Pole by the CHaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) instrument.
Before it was put to sleep, the lander module was made to do a ‘hop experiment’. The lander jumped 40 cm from the surface and landed safely. This experiment was to test its capability to fire its engine and how much thrust it could produce to lift itself from the surface. This experiment is a key to future missions which might involve the lander to bring the moon samples back to earth.
