Chandrayaan-3: Are Vikram lander, Pragyan rover dead on the Moon? What we know so far

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is currently facing a challenge in establishing communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover from the Chandrayaan-3 mission. This situation has raised concerns about their operational status.

Despite numerous efforts, no signals have been received from these lunar explorers. They touched down in the uncharted lunar southern polar region on August 23 after a 40-day journey through space. The Vikram lander and Pragyan rover were placed in sleep mode on September 2, having successfully completed their initial tasks.

The rover had covered a distance of over 100 meters on the lunar surface from the Shiv Shakti Point, confirming the presence of sulfur, iron, oxygen, and other elements on the moon. However, since then, ISRO has been unable to revive the system, despite initial optimism.

ISRO will persist in its efforts to establish contact with the lander and rover until the next lunar sunset, scheduled for September 30. The agency holds hope that the sun's return to the Shivshakti Point, where the equipment is located, may revive them. Nevertheless, at present, it remains uncertain when communication will be re-established with the Chandrayaan-3 instruments.

"We will continue to ping it. But as of now, there has been no communication," sources told India Today, requesting anonymity. The chances of revival were always slim, given the harsh lunar environment during the extended night.

The revival of the lander and rover was anticipated to be automatic, according to Nilesh M Desai, Director of the Space Applications Centre (SAC). He had previously explained that signals were expected to come when the solar-powered lander and rover were charged by the lunar surface's sunrise on September 22. However, no signals have been received thus far. If the electronics survive the cold temperatures, there is a 50-50 chance of revival. If not, the mission has already fulfilled its objectives, Desai added.

Should they be revived, the lander and rover will continue conducting scientific experiments on the moon's surface.

Despite the current silence from Vikram and Pragyan, the Chandrayaan-3 mission has already made history by achieving India's first soft landing on the lunar South Polar Region, marking significant progress in lunar exploration.

(With inputs from Sibu Kumar Tripathi)