Chandrayaan-3 rover put to sleep on Moon

The Chandrayaan-3 mission's rover Pragyan has completed its assignments, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Sunday. The rover has been safely parked and put into sleep mode, ISRO said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The 26-kg, six-wheeled, solar-powered rover Pragyan is equipped to use its scientific instruments to record what the lunar soil and rocks are made of in the south polar region where Chandrayaan-3's lander Vikram touched down, reports NDTV.

"Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on," ISRO said.

"Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments. Else, it will forever stay there as India's lunar ambassador," the space agency said.

ISRO said APXS and LIBS payloads have been turned off and data from these payloads is transmitted to Earth via lander Vikram.

The APXS instrument is best suited for in situ analysis of the elemental composition of soil and rocks on the surface of planetary bodies having little atmosphere, such as the Moon. APXS observations have discovered the presence of interesting minor elements, including sulphur, apart from the major expected elements such as aluminium, silicon, calcium and iron.

The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument on board the rover has already confirmed the presence of sulphur.

/KN/