IN AUGUST, India achieved what only the US, the USSR and China had done before and successfully landed a craft on the moon.
The Indian Space Research Organisation鈥檚 Vikram lander and Pragyan rover carried out a string of scientific experiments that will shed light on the composition of the moon鈥檚 surface, and the former performed a short take-off and repositioning to give engineers insight for future missions.
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Around two weeks after the Chandrayaan-3 mission began 鈥� a single period of lunar daylight 鈥� both devices went into 鈥渟leep mode鈥� and prepared for temperatures to plunge as low as -238掳C, which would be very likely to destroy electronic components. While there were tentative hopes that the rover could reawaken for another day鈥檚 exploration, that didn鈥檛 happen.
at the University of Leicester, UK, says the chances of reviving the lander or rover now are extremely slim, as they have passed through several lunar nights, but this takes nothing away from the mission鈥檚 鈥減henomenal achievement鈥�.
Chandrayaan-3 should be considered a success by any measure, she says, but given its budget of just 拢60 million ($74 million), it also represents a triumph of careful planning.
