Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover goes to ‘sleep’ for lunar night: ISRO

Chandrayaan-3’s rover, Pragyan, has completed its assignments on the lunar surface and set into sleep mode, ISRO said on Saturday (September 2).

The space agency’s announcement came hours after chief S Somanath said the lunar mission’s rover and lander, Pragyan and Vikram, respectively, were functioning well and would be put to “sleep” soon to withstand the night on the Moon.

“The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander,” ISRO posted an update on social media platform X.

Bracing for the night

At present, the battery is fully charged and the solar panel oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023.

“The receiver is kept on. Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador,” it said.

Somanath had earlier in the day announced that the rover has moved almost 100 metres from the lander.

“And we are going to start the process of making both of them sleep in the coming one or two days because they have to withstand the night,” he said.

(With agency inputs)