India has successfully concluded its lunar mission as the Pragyan rover, part of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, was powered down after accomplishing its two-week assignment of conducting experiments on the moon’s surface. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that the rover was “set into Sleep mode” with fully charged batteries and an active receiver, as shared on X (formerly Twitter) late on Saturday.
ISRO expressed hope for a future reawakening to undertake another set of tasks, stating, “Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador.”
This achievement marks India’s significant milestone in lunar exploration, putting it in the league with the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union. India’s mission reached the challenging lunar south pole, surpassing even Russia’s Luna-25, which had faced a similar attempt.
The soft and precise touchdown of Chandrayaan-3, following a failed attempt in 2019, ignited widespread celebration in the world’s most populous country, with the media hailing it as India’s greatest scientific achievement.
During its mission, the Pragyan rover covered a distance of over 100 meters (330 feet) on the moon’s surface, confirming the presence of crucial elements such as sulphur, iron, and oxygen, contributing valuable data to lunar exploration efforts, as reported by ISRO.
