The rover sent to the moon as part of India's Chandrayaan-3has completed its journey to the lunar south pole and is now in sleep mode. The rover arrived on the moon on August 23 and has been exploring the area for about two weeks.
" The rover is completing its missions. It is now safely and has been put into sleep mode parked ," the Indian Space Research Organisation said on Saturday.
The rover's payloads are deactivated and the data it collected has already been sent to Earth via the lander for analysis.
The lander and rover of the Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission were expected to operate for one lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth.
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“At this time, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver remains on. We hope for a successful wake-up for another round of work!” the statement said.
According to the Indian Express newspaper, the rover's electronics and materials are not designed to withstand the very low duringtemperatures the lunar night. The lunar night is also equal to 14 Earth days, just like the day.
Additionally, according to an expert, the rover has limited battery power.
Therefore, at the next sunrise on the moon, the rover may or may not be able to restart, as its electronic components may not withstand the low temperature over the next 14 days.
Unfortunately, the technology that would keep them temperature-resistant is not yet available in India.
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As for the findings of the Chandrayaan-3 mission so far, it is not known whether there was anything interesting in the rover's searches for signs of water at the moon's south pole. Detecting water is crucial for future astronaut missions.
However, last week, the Indian space agency said the rover had confirmed the presence of sulfur and several other elements. The rover's spectroscopic instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon.
The data has been sent to Earth and will be analyzed first by Indian scientists and then by the global community.
After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India has now become the fourth nation to reach the moon after the United States, the Soviet Union and China. Most impressively, however, it has become the first nation to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon's south pole, a difficult and unexplored region due to its many dangerous craters.
The successful mission shows that India is a rising power in space exploration.
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India's success came just days after Russia's Luna-25, which was targeting the same lunar region, crashed on the moon's surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation, will forever be etched in the history of space. Despite the challenges, it successfully landed on the moon's south pole, a region that remains largely unexplored. The findings of the mission, collected by the rover, will be analyzed and provide important information about our satellite.
Source: abcnews.go.com
