The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday informed that the Pragyan rover which was carried to the Moon by its Chandrayan-3 spacecraft has been put to “sleep” as it has completed all its assignments on the Lunar surface.

The rover is set to be turned on next on September 22 when the solar panel receives light at the next sunrise.

The rover traversed over 100 meters on the Lunar surface after touching down on the Moon on August 25.

Pragyan put to ‘sleep’

“The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode.

“APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander. Currently, the battery is fully charged.

“The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on.

“Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador,” ISRO tweeted on X.

Pragyan finds sulphur among other elements on Moon

On Thursday, India’s space agency ISRO said the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) instrument onboard the Pragyan rover confirmed the presence of sulphur and some other elements in the lunar south.

The revelation of sulphur’s presence might hold clues to the Moon’s composition and its volcanic past, scientists said.

Before that, on Tuesday, ISRO announced that another instrument, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), found sulphur in the region.

In line with expectations, ISRO also reported the LIBS instrument had detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen.

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