The lunar rover of India's Chandrayaan-3 mission has completed its current assignments on the Moon and has been set into a sleep mode until September 22, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has said.
"Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode ... 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 ISRO tweeted.
The organization also expressed hope that the rover would successfully awaken and start fulfilling further assignments. In the event of the failure to return to an active mode, it would serve as "India's lunar ambassador," the IRSO added.
India's Moon mission was launched on July 14, and it entered the lunar orbit on August 5. The station conducted several maneuvers to approach the Moon until its orbit decreased to 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the Moon. The Chandrayaan-3's landing module Vikram separated from the station on August 17 and previously conducted two operations to lower its orbit.
The launch of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission was originally scheduled for 2020 but was later postponed several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic and reforms in the Indian space sector.