2023-09-03 06:52:29
The Indian lunar rover has been put into sleep mode. (AFP / -)
The device has completed its tasks, the data collected has been transmitted to Earth, said the Indian space agency Isro. The battery is fully charged, the solar cells are aligned in such a way that they can generate energy once more when the sun shines on the landing site once more from September 22nd.
Longer nights – longer days
A day on the moon lasts as long as 14 days on earth – the lunar night is just as long. The expedition was only planned for a lunar day, but the Isro hoped for a continuation. The receiver remains on in hopes of a successful awakening for another batch of quests, it said.
Experts doubt that this will succeed. According to a report in the newspaper “Indian Express”. the electronics on board are not built to survive the low temperatures of the moonlit night, which are below minus 120 degrees. Science writer Pallava Bagla wrote that India does not yet have the technology for such extreme cold. The rover may not restart.
No information yet regarding possible water on the moon
“Chandrayaan-3” made a soft landing on the moon on August 23. The lunar car then drove down from the lander and examined the ground. According to the Isro, it discovered sulfur and other elements. The spectroscope on board also detected aluminium, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon. Isro has not disclosed what came out of the search for frozen water on the lunar surface. Water would be important for manned lunar expeditions because drinking water or rocket fuel can be obtained from it.
After the former Soviet Union, the USA and China, India is the fourth country to have landed on the moon, especially at the little-explored South Pole. Shortly before, Russia’s attempt to land a spaceship on the moon once more following 47 years had failed.
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