Produced by: Tarun Mishra
Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh
Following their initial successful tasks, the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 entered a hibernation state on September 2. These achievements included the rover's extensive lunar surface exploration and the confirmation of vital elements such as sulphur, iron, and oxygen
Since entering sleep mode, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been grappling with a communication hurdle. Efforts to establish contact with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover have been unsuccessful after the end of lunar night, raising concerns about their reactivation. Let’s take a look at some other landers and rovers which are now out of operational use and resting on the Moon’s surface
Luna 9, part of the Soviet Union's Luna program, made history by becoming the first spacecraft to safely land on a celestial body. Equipped with scientific instruments, Luna 9 was a hermetically sealed container that provided valuable lunar data
Credit: NASA
Surveyor 1, a pioneering lunar soft-lander, gathered crucial data about the Moon's surface, contributing to the preparations for the Apollo Moon landings. It marked the first successful American soft landing on an extraterrestrial body
The Soviet Union's Lunokhod 1 was a groundbreaking lunar rover, the first remote-controlled robot to roam freely on another celestial body. Despite its designed lifespan of three lunar days, it astoundingly operated for eleven lunar days, covering 10.54 kilometres
Lunokhod 2, another Soviet lunar rover, explored the Moon's surface extensively. It performed various experiments, including observing solar X-rays and studying lunar soil mechanics, contributing to lunar science
Yutu, a Chinese lunar rover deployed during the Chang'e 3 mission, marked the first soft landing on the Moon since 1976. It faced operational challenges but managed to gather vital data over an extended operational period
Chandrayaan-2, India's lunar exploration mission, featured the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover, both developed in India. While the Vikram lander faced difficulties, it was not destroyed as initially believed, but the module fell upside down, making it dysfunctional and unable to operate
The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), utilised during Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17, was a battery-powered rover that allowed astronauts to traverse the lunar surface. These missions left a remarkable legacy in lunar exploration