Indian Moon Mission's lander, rover still in sleep mode: agency

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Friday said there has been no response from the country's Moon Mission-3, or Chandrayaan-3, which is in sleep mode despite efforts made to revive them, reported Xinhua.

The lander and the rover had gone into sleep mode three weeks ago when the Sun began to set on the South Pole of the lunar surface. The portion of the lunar surface was exposed to the Sun on Friday, thus raising ISRO's hopes of establishing contact with the duo.

"Efforts have been made to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition. As of now, no signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue," posted the ISRO on X (erstwhile Twitter) on Friday.

The Vikram lander aboard the Chandrayaan-3 touched down at the Moon's South Pole on Aug. 23 after a 40-day journey through space. The Pragyan rover was safely parked and set into sleep mode on Sept. 2 after traversing over 100 meters on the lunar surface from the point of landing. The lander was put into sleep mode on Sept. 4.

According to a report by India Today, the solar panels of the two devices had been oriented to receive light at dawn at the lunar surface, and the sunlight-powered batteries were left charged before they were put to sleep.

If the machines respond and recharge successfully, the mission will be granted an extended lease of life, allowing scientists to acquire additional samples and continue their exploration of the lunar surface, it added.