ISRO chief S Somanath unconcerned if Pragyan rover and Vikram Lander do not revive.

Speaking at a press conference, Somanath said that that Chandrayaan-3’s rover, which is currently in sleep mode, has achieved what was expected from it in the mission.

The Isro chief said it will wake up if its electronic circuits have not been damaged due to the extreme weather on the moon as the temperature dipped nearly 200 degrees celsius below zero. “It is okay if it does not wake up because the rover has done what it was expected to do,” he added.

Isro had tried to establish contact with the rover and lander after dawn broke on the Moon. One lunar day is equivalent to about 14 days on Earth. The agency wanted to ascertain their “wake-up condition” after they had been put into sleep mode early this month ahead of the lunar night setting in. However, no signals have been received so far.

After landing on the Moon on August 23, both the lander and the rover, and payloads onboard had performed experiments one after the other so as to complete them within 14 Earth days (one lunar day), before pitch darkness and extreme cold weather engulfed the Moon. The lander and rover — with a total mass of 1,752 kg — were designed to operate for one lunar daylight period to study the surroundings there.

Meanwhile, Somanath said that Isro is now gearing up for the XPoSat or X-ray Polarimeter Satellite launch which may take place in November or December. Another mission in the pipeline is INSAT-3DS, a climate satellite which will be launched in December, said Somanath.

(With inputs from PTI)

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