Chandrayaan-3 rover ‘Pragyan’ has been safely parked and placed into sleep mode, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), announced on Saturday. The agency confirmed that the rover has successfully completed its assigned tasks, and both the APXS and LIBS payloads have been deactivated.

“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,” ISRO tweeted on Saturday.

The space agency’s announcement came hours after its chief S Somanath said the lunar mission’s rover and lander, ‘Pragyaan’ and ‘Vikram’, respectively were functioning well and they would be put to “sleep” soon to withstand the night on the Moon.

The Indian space agency added that the rover’s 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,” it said in the tweet.

Somanath had earlier in the day said the rover has moved almost 100 metres from the lander. “And we are going to start the process of making both of them sleep in the coming one or two days because they have to withstand the night,” he said.

--Agencies