There is no contact with the Indian lunar module

They had to endure 14 days of cold and darkness Indian landers and rovers on the moon He’s struggling. This is how long the day and night cycle lasts on the Moon. Meanwhile, the devices were somehow idle Sleep mode. Now the sun has risen again, Lander Vikram And Rovers Two brags However, they did not respond to the wake-up call from Earth.

Full batteries and receivers running

They were actually hoping for an awakening so that more research could be done. Both the lander and rover were launched earlier this month Full batteries The receiver is turned on to save power during the night.

“Efforts have been made to establish contact with the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover to inquire about their awakening status. No signals have been received from them so far. Contact efforts are still ongoing,” it wrote. Indian space agency ISRO Friday on Twitter (X).

Successful landing on August 23

During the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the Indian lander was deployed on the lunar surface August 23 Successfully at the South Pole of the Moon. A few hours after landing, the spacecraft explored the area from inside the lander. Both devices were put to sleep on September 4th. At this point, the rover has just over 100 metres Travel on the moon.

➤ Read more: Why is it difficult to land on the moon?

Before shutting down, the rover was lined up in a north-south direction so that the sun was shining directly on the solar module at a right angle on September 22. It was hoped that the components would be activated again once the ambient temperature dropped Exceeds -10 degrees Celsius.

The lunar module was not heated

The chance of Vikram or Pragyan surviving the moonlit night is slim, but still there. In 2014 the Chinese came forward Lunar module Yutu (Jade Rabbit) returned unexpectedly after a moonlit night at mission control in China. It survived 14 days of darkness and extreme temperatures Minus 200 degrees. However, it happened during his second lunar day Problem with his wheels For this reason, he is no longer able to assume his “sleeping position” in the direction of sunrise. Although contact could be made on the third lunar day, it was not possible to move the rover again.

However, unlike Pragyan, the Chinese spacecraft was contained Radionuclide heating elements, which keeps cold-sensitive parts at temperature. Heating elements generate this heat through the decay of radioactive material (plutonium). This means that the temperature inside the enclosure can be maintained at more than -20°C.