No signal..!? Is it possible to live permanently on the moon?

Chandrayaan 3 lander vikram and rover Pragyan have successfully landed and carried out surveys, what is their status? Scientist Venkateswaran explains what is possible next. The chandrayaan 3 spacecraft was launched on July 14 from the rocket launch pad at Sriharikota to explore the South Pole of the Moon. The chandrayaan 3 vikram lander landed as scheduled on august 23 at the South Pole of the moon after covering a distance of thousands of kilometers in 40 days. The vikram lander carried the ChaSTE instrument to measure thermal conductivity and temperature, the ILSA instrument to study seismicity around the lander, and the LP instrument to study electrically charged particles. After this Pragyan rover came out from vikram lander and engaged in exploration.
Discovery of minerals:
In this, some minerals were found on the surface of the moon's south pole. In particular, the LIPS instrument on the rover discovered the presence of minerals including sulfur, aluminum, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, and oxygen in the moon. The rover and lander hibernated for the next 14 days as the rover continued to orbit the moon and explore. Their movement was suspended. isro said that after 14 days, when the sun shines on the moon again, they will be brought back into operation. In this case, it was reported that the lander and rover will be operational again on september 22 (yesterday) when the sun appears. It was also informed that efforts will be made to bring the rover and lander of the chandrayaan 3 spacecraft into operation after reaching a certain temperature.

No signal received:
Meanwhile, isro said that attempts were made to bring the vikram lander and Pragyan rover back into operation but no signal was received from them. isro also said that efforts are being made to establish contact. At this stage, Vikram, has the conclusion been written for Pragyan? Venkateswaran, Senior Scientist, Vigyan Prachar, gave an exclusive interview to ABP Nadu on what's next. He said about this: Yes. Both are disabled. In the future, humans from india will go to the moon, just look around and that's it. Nothing else can be done. chandrayaan 3 will also be on the moon, just as Luna 9 is on the Moon. No more data will be sent. However, the research carried out using the data sent so far will continue.
Why couldn't vikram and Pragyan wake up from their sleep?
The metal expands in extreme heat. At the same time, the metal shrinks in the cold. This will cause cracks in the coil. Electronics are vulnerable when they are all metal. Similarly, the maximum temperature in the moon is + 70 degrees and the minimum temperature is - 180 degrees. This heating process does not happen as slowly and gradually as on Earth. The temperature changes immediately. Because there is no atmosphere. Machines are severely affected by this sudden temperature change.

Then how did isro express confidence?

Scientists tried to just give it a try. For this, they fully charged the battery in the spacecraft. The charge was gradually discharging from it. (a subtle heat leak that keeps happening - like a mobile phone losing charge even when it's not in use) They thought they could use that heat to keep the lander and rover alive in sleep and wake them up. But that hope did not materialize.




What if the lander could have resurrected the rover?

It requires a naturally radioactive radio battery with modern technologies. It is because of such technology that China's rover has been operating on the moon for more than a year. If the Luna spacecraft sent by russia is successfully landed, it will be operational for 4 years. However, the countries of the world will not give us these technologies. Research on radioactive batteries is nearing completion in india itself. The research for this has been carried out jointly by isro and BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Center - BARC). After this, our chances of permanently operating on the moon will increase.”
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Sowmiya Sriram

23/09/2023 02:10 PM