Bengaluru: The ISRO has not given up efforts to spring Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram lying on the lunar surface back to life after a hard-landing more than three weeks ago, senior officials indicated on Tuesday. The Indian Space Research Organisation said on September 7 ground stations lost communication with Vikram (with rover Praygan tucked inside it), minutes before its planned soft-landing on the Lunar surface.
Since then the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency had been making “all possible” efforts to establish link with the lander but had apparently suspended those operations 10 days ago following night fall on the Moon. “Now it’s not possible, it’s night time there. May be after this, probably we will start. It’s night time at our landing site, power may not be there”, the ISRO Chairman K Sivan told PTI on Tuesday. “We will make efforts afterwards (during day-time on lunar surface) also,” he said. The mission life of the lander and the rover will be one Lunar day which is equal to fourteen earth days, ISRO had said prior to the launch of Chandrayaan-2.
