Chandrayaan-3 mission's Vikram Lander is expected to get into sleep mode on Monday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said. It added that the data that it has so far collected has been successfully collected by the scientists and the rover will "fall asleep" once it runs out of power.
"Vikram Lander is set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST today. Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP, and ILSA payloads are performed at the new location. The data collected is received at the Earth.
Payloads are now switched off. Lander receivers are kept on," the space agency posted on X. "The data collected is received at the Earth. Payloads are now switched off. Lander receivers are kept on."
ISRO is expecting solar-powered Pragyan rover and Vikram lander to "awaken" around September 22, 2023.
Earlier in the day, ISRO also said that Vikram lander had successfully "hopped" on the surface of the Moon by itself.
Calling it a "hop test", the space agency said that the Vikram lander made a soft landing on the lunar surface again recently when it fired the engines on command, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected, and landed safely at a distance of 30 to 40 cm away.
Explaining why this test was so important, ISRO explained on X: "This 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions!"
"Importance?: This 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions! All systems performed nominally and are healthy. Deployed Ramp, ChaSTE, and ILSA were folded back and redeployed successfully after the experiment," it added.
India scripted history by soft-landing the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface on August 23. It became the fourth country to touch the lunar surface and the first to ever reach the south pole of the moon.
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