India’s Moon Rover Completes Walk on Lunar Surface and Enters Sleep Mode
New Delhi – India’s moon rover has successfully completed its exploration on the lunar surface and has entered sleep mode, less than two weeks after its historic landing near the lunar south pole, according to India’s space mission. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on Saturday that the rover has finished its assigned tasks and is now safely parked and set into sleep mode as daylight on that part of the moon comes to an end.
The Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover were initially designed to operate for just one lunar day, which is equivalent to 14 days on Earth. The rover’s payloads have been turned off, and the collected data has been transmitted back to Earth through the lander. The ISRO stated that the battery is fully charged, with the solar panel oriented to receive light at the next sunrise, expected on September 22, 2023.
However, there has been no word yet on the rover’s findings regarding signs of frozen water on the lunar surface, which could prove valuable for future astronaut missions as a potential source of drinking water or rocket fuel. Last week, the rover confirmed the presence of sulfur and detected other elements, such as aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen, and silicon on the moon’s surface.
Concerns have been raised about the rover’s ability to withstand extreme cold temperatures during the lunar night, which can drop below -120°C (-184°F) and last as long as 14 Earth days. Pallava Bagla, a science writer and co-author of books on India’s space exploration, noted that the rover has limited battery power and making electronic components that can survive such low temperatures remains a technological challenge in India.
Despite the challenges, India’s successful moon landing has positioned the country as a rising technology and space powerhouse. The mission’s success aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of projecting India as an ascendant nation among the global elite. The mission began more than a month ago and cost approximately $75 million.
India’s achievement comes shortly after Russia’s Luna-25 mission, aimed at the same lunar region, spun into an uncontrolled orbit and crashed. The failed Russian landing was intended to be the country’s first successful lunar landing in 47 years. Russia’s space corporation, Roscosmos, attributed the failure to a lack of expertise caused by the long hiatus in lunar research since their last mission to the moon in 1976.
India has been actively involved in space activities since the 1960s and has successfully launched satellites for both domestic and international purposes. In 2014, India became the first Asian country to put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars. Furthermore, India is planning its inaugural mission to the International Space Station in collaboration with the United States, slated for next year.
The data collected by the rover will now be analyzed by Indian scientists and shared with the global scientific community for further study and research. However, the fate of the rover’s next awakening remains uncertain due to the extreme cold temperatures, which could potentially render the electronics non-functional upon sunrise on the moon.