BENGALURU: Not all of Chandrayaan's missions are in hibernation. While the mission’s Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover are asleep, Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter (Pradhan), watches on as it continues to orbit around the moon.
The Pradhan orbiter has been going around the moon for the past four years since its launch on July 22, 2019, after the Chandrayaan-2 mission was partially successful when the lander crashed on the moon’s surface now called Tiranga Point.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had earlier said that the Pradhan orbiter would help facilitate communication between Chandrayaan-3 and ISRO’s earth-based stations to help scientists keep an eye on the well-being of Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover throughout their 14-day mission.
Scientists at ISRO told TNIE, “The orbiter is in good condition. All the data sent from the orbiter is being recorded at the Deep Space Network at Byalalu near Bengaluru.” In a recent update, the space agency also released pictures of Vikram recorded by the Chandrayaan-2’s orbiter while it was asleep on the south pole of the moon. Before the touchdown, the orbiter and Vikram had established a link, helping send information to the ground stations.
“Here is an image of the Chandrayaan-3 Lander taken by the Dual-Frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter on September 6, 2023,” said ISRO in a statement. The image shows a lit-up area on September 6 when the lander was put in sleep mode.
DFSAR can provide both the distance and physical characteristics of the target features without much light.