Former ISRO Chairman says that there are zero prospects for the revival of the moon lander and rover

Former ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, who played a significant role in the Chandrayaan-3 mission, has stated that there are no prospects for the revival of the moon lander and rover, suggesting that India’s third lunar mission has concluded successfully. He told PTI news agency, “No, no, there won’t be any more hope of reviving. Now, if it should have happened, it should have happened by now. There is (now) no chance at all.”

Despite the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) making efforts to re-establish contact with the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover after the start of a new lunar day on September 22, no signals have been received from the spacecraft. ISRO had previously indicated that it would continue its communication efforts.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission was designed for the lander and rover to operate for one lunar daylight period, lasting approximately 14 Earth days. The mission achieved its three primary objectives, which included demonstrating a safe and soft lunar landing, showcasing rover mobility on the moon, and conducting in-situ scientific experiments.

While the possibility of re-establishing communication with the lander and rover was seen as a potential “bonus,” an ISRO official mentioned that, “If our luck is good, we will have the revival of both the lander and rover, and we will get some more experimental data, which will be useful for us to further investigate the moon’s surface.”

Kiran Kumar expressed confidence in future lunar missions focused on sample return and emphasized the significance of Chandrayaan-3’s achievements, stating, “In the larger sense, what you have achieved definitely is you have reached an area (south pole) where nobody else has gone and obtained in-situ data of that region. That is actually very useful information. It will benefit subsequent missions in terms of knowledge and planning activities for that region.”