--- title: "India’s Moon Lander Appears to Have Died" description: "Hitting Snooze Last month, India became only the fourth country in the world to pull off a soft landing on the lunar surface. Since then, the country's Vikram lander flexed its muscles by firing up its thrusters to float 15 inches above the surface and softly land once again. A couple of days later, the […]" date: "2023-09-26" modified: "2023-09-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/indias-moon-lander-appears-died" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "india" - "lunar lander" - "moon" - "the digest" --- # India’s Moon Lander Appears to Have Died ![India's Vikram lunar lander has yet to "re-awaken" from its prolonged night-time nap, worrying scientists.]() *\Image: ISRO\* ## Snooze Button Last month, India became only the [fourth country in the world]() to pull off a soft landing on the lunar surface. Afterward, the country's Vikram lander flexed its muscles by [releasing a rover]() and even [firing up its thrusters]() to float 15 inches above the surface before softly landing once again. A couple of days later, the team at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) put Vikram and its accompanying Pragyaan rover [into sleep mode]() to wait out the next lunar sunrise on September 22. Unfortunately, the pair have yet to "re-awaken" from their prolonged night-time nap days later — and, as [*The Guardian* reports](), ISRO scientists haven't been able to make contact, saying that "hopes are dimming" of Vikram and Pragyaan ever waking back up. It's an unfortunate development, highlighting the extreme conditions of the lunar surface, particularly in the long absence of the Sun's warming rays. ## Lunar Ambassador But scientists are far from definitively calling it. "Efforts to establish communication with the Vikram lander and Pragyaan rover will continue," the ISRO [tweeted](). According to the team, mission control will try to reestablish communications until the next sunset on September 30. "Unless the transmitter on the lander comes on, we have no connectivity," ISRO chief AS Kiran Kumar [told the *BBC*]() on Monday. "It has to tell us that it's alive. Even if all other sub-systems work, we have no way of knowing that." Surviving the bitter cold may be difficult, but there have been recent instances of lunar rovers surviving a harsh night. China's [Chang'e-4]() and [Yutu-2]() rovers, for instance, have successfully woken up from their slumber on more than one occasion. However, even if Vikram never wakes up again, India can count its Chandrayaan-3 mission as a groundbreaking success, with the lander serving "as India's lunar ambassador" on the Moon, per the ISRO. **More on the lander:** *[India's Moon Lander Just Took Off Again and Landed in a Different Place]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()