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Space scientists of India say that while the whole country hopes for the reawakening of the moon lander after the cold lunar night, the chances of it actually getting reawakened are unfortunately low. However, scientists are determined to try hard until the end of the lunar day. A total of 14 Earth days constitute a day and night on the moon.
The Indian Space and Research Organization on Friday stated that it attempted to contact the rover and the lander after the commencement of a new lunar day. However, the organization failed to get any such signals.
Vikram (the lander) along with Pragyaan (the rover) landed on the south pole of the Moon in August. Two weeks were spent by the duo in collecting information and images. After these two weeks, the duo was kept into "sleep mode" at the lunar nightfall.
ISRO had earlier stated that it was expecting the recharging of batteries and reawakening of the modules after the rising of the lunar Sun near 22nd September.
It was on Friday that the organization posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) regarding the missing, saying that "efforts to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover will continue". Since then, there has been no official update.
AS Kiran Kumar, former ISRO chief on Monday stated that "chances of reawakening are dimming with each passing hour".
"The lander and rover have so many components which may not have survived the frigid temperatures on the Moon," he further added. He explained that around the lunar south pole, the temperatures usually jump to -328F to -418F (-200C to -250C) at night.
The man further explained that, "unless the transmitter on the lander comes on, we have no connectivity. It has to tell us that it's alive. Even if all other sub-systems work, we have no way of knowing that."
The spokesman further said that attempts to get into the contact of the land and rover are still continuous.
ISRO has also stated that "if Vikram and Pragyaan do not wake up they will stay on the Moon as India's lunar ambassador".
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