The successful experiment provides hope for future human missions, ISRO says
Chandrayaan-3 Mission's Vikram Lander has achieved another milestone by successfully performing a 'hop' experiment on the surface of the Moon.
 
Announcing that the Vikram Lander had "exceeded its mission objectives" by soft landing on the moon for a second time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday (September 4, 2023) that this provides hope for bringing back lunar samples as well as for human missions in the future.
 
The Vikram Lander has now been put into sleep mode next to the Pragyan Rover, which was already in sleep mode. This is meant to help them withstand the lunar night once their solar power is depleted. ISRO, however, hopes to 'awaken' both of them on September 22, 2023, the next sunrise on the Moon.
 
"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: Vikram soft-landed on (moon), again!
 
Vikram Lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a hop experiment.
 
On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 – 40 cm away.
 
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," ISRO said in an update posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
 
ISRO later said that the Vikram Lander was set into sleep mode around 08:00 Hrs. IST on Monday. Prior to that, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads were performed at the new location. 
 
With the data collected having been received on Earth, the payloads were now switched off but the Lander receivers had been kept on, ISRO added.
 
"Vikram will fall asleep next to Pragyan (Rover) once the solar power is depleted and the battery is drained. Hoping for their awakening, around September 22, 2023," ISRO said in an update.
 
Earlier, on September 2, 2023, ISRO announced that the Chandrayaan-3 Rover had been safely parked and set into Sleep Mode after completing its assignments.
 
"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode.
APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. 
Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander.
 
Currently, the battery is fully charged.
The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on. 
 
Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments!
Else, it will forever stay there as India's lunar ambassador," ISRO wrote on X.
 
India had created history on August 23, 2023 by becoming the only country in the world to land near the Moon's South Pole as the Chandrayaan-3 made a successful soft landing. With this, it also became the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat of landing on the Moon after the United States, Russia, and China.
 
Having successfully landed on the lunar surface, the spacecraft operated for a duration of one lunar day, equivalent to approximately 14 Earth days. This timeframe aligned with the unique lunar day-night cycle, which is significantly longer than a typical Earth day.
 
During this period, the spacecraft conducted scientific experiments, captured high-resolution images, and collected valuable data about the lunar terrain, geology, and atmosphere.
 
Chandrayaan-3 is India's third mission to Earth's natural satellite, the Moon, with an approved cost of Rs 250 crores (excluding the launch vehicle cost).
 
The Chandrayaan-3 mission had three components:
 
  1. The Propulsion module, which transferred the Lander and the Rover module to 100 kilometres of lunar orbit.
  2. The Vikram Lander module, which was responsible for the soft landing of the lunar craft.
  3. The Pragyan Rover module which was used for exploring the moon.
 
Here are some significant milestones in the journey of Chandrayaan-3:
 
August 27, 2023: Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) on board the Rover confirms presence of Sulphur in the lunar surface near the south pole through first-ever in-situ measurements.
 
August 27, 2023: Chandrayaan-3 Mission sends back first observations from the ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) payload measuring temperature profile of the lunar topsoil.
 
August 23, 2023: India creates history as Chandrayaan-3 lands near the Moon's South Pole.
 
August 21, 2023: ISRO successfully establishes two-way communication between the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module and the still orbiting Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. Also shares new images of the Lunar far side area.
 
August 17, 2023: Lander Module is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module. De-boosting planned for August 18, 2023.
 
August 5, 2023: Chandrayaan-3 is successfully inserted into lunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 164 km x 18074 km, as intended.
 
August 1, 2023: The spacecraft is successfully inserted into the translunar orbit. The orbit achieved is 288 km x 369328 km.
 
July 15, 2023: The first orbit-raising maneuver (Earthbound firing-1) is successfully performed at ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. Spacecraft is now in 41762 km x 173 km orbit.
 
July 14, 2023: The Chandrayaan-3 mission is successfully launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, using a Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket.