India Now On The Moon. What Happens to Vikram Lander, Pragyan Rover After 14 Days?

Vikram lander and Pragyan rover will have 14 Earth days to gather scientific data from the Moon's surface and atmosphere, after which there will be a lunar night for another 14 Earth days.

   The Pragyan rover and Vikram lander together weigh nearly 1,800 kg.

New Delhi: After "20 minutes of terror," Chandrayaan-3 has arrived on the Moon. The Vikramlander and Pragyan rover, both carrying six scientific payloads, have one lunar day, or 14 Earth days, to collect enough data to pique the interests of scientists around the world.

The solar-powered Pragyan rover, which left its mark on the Moon late last night with the announcement that "India takes a walk on the Moon," will slow down after a fortnight because this is the length of the "sunlight cycle" on the lunar surface.

How Much Time Do Vikram, Pragyan Have On Moon?

Only 14 days remain for Vikram and Pragyan until the Moon goes to sleep.

In other words, the Moon will experience a night that lasts another 14 Earth days after 14 Earth days. The lander, the payloads, and the rover may not be completely operational at this time due to the lack of solar power and, more critically, because nighttime temperatures can reach a destructive 208 degrees Fahrenheit (133 degrees Celsius).

The lander will communicate with the over throughout this period and send information back to the mission control center of ISRO. Throughout this time, ISRO won't have a direct connection to the rover.

The Landing Date

Chandrayaan-3's landing date was planned by the countless scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) with the same accuracy and precision that enabled them to successfully land the 1,752kg Vikram lander (containing the Pragyan rover) over 400,000 kilometers from Earth.

The choice of August 23 as the landing date was made because it marked the beginning of one lunar day/night cycle. Vikram may have landed on August 24 if that day's attempt had failed, according to ISRO's backup plan. 

After a full day/night cycle on the moon, ISRO reportedly planned to attempt again 29 days later if there was still no touch down (and the lander was undamaged).

Why The Lunar South Pole?

No other spacecraft has ever managed to make a gentle landing close to the Moon's South Pole, making Chandrayaan-3 unique. This region is full of craters and deep pits and is distant from the equatorial zone that other missions, such as NASA's crewed Apollo landings, have as their aim.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission's discoveries could increase and broaden our understanding of lunar water ice, which has the potential to be one of the moon's most valuable resources.

So What Happens To The Lunar Modules After Mission Completion?

Contrary to what some Indian MPs may think, neither the Pragyan rover nor the Vikram lander will undertake a return trip to Earth. The propulsion module that brought them won't either.

Both the lander and the rover will stay on the Moon after their individual experiments are finished. While there is no intention to resuscitate them after that time, they won't be operational during the lunar night. ISRO is optimistic that both will survive the lengthy night and resume operations.

The Chandrayaan-3 Mission

Chandrayaan-3, a 600 crore mission, was launched on July 14 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, riding atop a Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket. Significantly, the 41-day trip to the Moon was completed only a few days after a Russian spacecraft trying to achieve a similar result crashed after spinning out of control.