No hope of waking up lander and rover now, says space scientist
signalling possible end of Chandrayaan-3 odyssey
Bengaluru (PTI): There is now no hope of waking up the Chandrayaan-3's moon lander and rover, an eminent space scientist said on Friday, signalling a possible end to India's third lunar mission.
Space Commission member and former ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, who was actively associated with the mission, told PTI: "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."
The ISRO said on September 22 -- after a new lunar day began -- efforts have been made to establish communication with solar-powered Vikram lander and Pragyan rover to ascertain their wake-up condition. As of now, no signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue, it had said then.
With the Chandrayaan-3 mission, India scripted history on August 23 becoming the first country to touch down near the lunar south pole; and the fourth in the world to achieve soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
The national space agency headquartered here had put the lander and rover into sleep mode, on September 4 and 2, respectively, before the sun set on the moon, hoping for their awakening at the next sunrise around September 22.
The lander and the rover are designed to operate for one lunar daylight period (about 14 earth days).
According to ISRO officials, all the three Chandrayaan-3 mission objectives -- demonstration of a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, and demonstration of the rover roving on the moon and undertaking of in-situ scientific experiments on the lunar surface by its payloads and that of the lander -- have been achieved.
After landing on the moon, scientific payloads of the lander and the 26-kg six-wheeled rover had performed experiments one after the other so as to complete them within 14 earth days, before the pitch darkness and extreme cold weather engulfed the Moon.
ISRO officials had said that if it was able to reestablish communication with the lander and rover, it would be a "bonus"
"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 do investigation of the moon surface", an official of the space agency had said.
On September 4, ISRO said Vikram lander exceeded its mission objectives. It successfully underwent a "hop" experiment. On command, it fired the engines, elevated itself by about 40 cm as expected and landed safely at a distance of 30 - 40 cm away. Importance ? This 'kick-start' enthuses future sample return and human missions !
The space agency said on September two that the rover completed its assignments, adding: "Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India's lunar ambassador."
On the accomplishment of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Kiran Kumar said: "In the larger sense, what you have achieved definitely is you have reached an area (south pole) where nobody else has gone and got in-situ data of that region. And that is actually very useful information. It will benefit subsequent (missions) both in terms of knowledge and in terms of planning the activities that you want to do in that region".
He also spoke about the possibility of ISRO undertaking a sample-return mission to the Moon but gave no timeframe to undertake such a venture.
"Yes, definitely in future it will all be there because these are all technological capabilities you keep developing, now this (Chandrayaan-3) has shown soft-landing and subsequent ones will pick up material from there and come back, all those missions will definitely be there," Kumar said.
"In the future many of these things will be in the works. Plans will be made and then proposals will be put up based on the overall vision of technology development", he said. "It purely depends on how the overall planning happens, and how much resources are made available, so it's very difficult to tell (the time-frame for the sample-return mission).
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London, Nov 22: A bomb disposal squad deployed as a “precaution” to the South Terminal of Gatwick Airport concluded an investigation into a "security incident" on Friday after making a “suspect package” safe.
The South Terminal of Gatwick Airport, the UK's second busiest airport after Heathrow, which was briefly shut owing to the incident reopened following the incident.
The Gatwick is around 45 km south of London.
Two people detained during the enquiries have since been allowed to continue their journey as the airport was opened.
“Police have concluded their investigation into a report of a suspect package at Gatwick Airport. Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team made the package safe, and the airport has been handed back to its operator,” Sussex Police said in an updated statement.
“Two people detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys. There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel,” the statement added.
Earlier on Friday, the incident caused severe disruption at the busy airport’s South Terminal, while the North Terminal of Gatwick Airport remained unaffected.
“Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20 am on Friday (November 22) following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage,” a Sussex Police statement said.
“To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with. As a precaution, an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team is being deployed to the airport. This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We’d advise the public to avoid the area where possible,” it said.
Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of frustrated travellers being moved away from the terminal building.
Gatwick said it was working hard to resolve the issue.
“A large part of the South Terminal has been evacuated as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," the airport said in a social media post.
“Passengers will not be able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing. The safety and security of our passengers and staff remain our top priority. We are working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
Train and bus services that serve the airport were also impacted while the police carried out their inquiries.
In an unrelated incident in south London on Friday morning, the US Embassy area in Nine Elms by the River Thames was the scene of a controlled explosion by Scotland Yard dealing with what they believe may have been a “hoax device”.
“We can confirm the 'loud bang' reported in the area a short time ago was a controlled explosion carried out by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a post on X.
“Initial indications are that the item was a hoax device. An investigation will now follow. Some cordons will remain in place for the time being but the majority of the police response will now be stood down,” it added.
