Scientist Valarmathi, who provided the voice for the rocket launch countdowns in Sriharikota for the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), passed away on Sunday after suffering a heart arrest. She was last heard during the countdown of Chandrayaan-3’s launch, which included a historic Moon landing.
On July 14, Chandrayaan-3 was launched from Sriharikota’s Satish Dhawan Space Center.
The Lander Module (LM) of Chandrayaan-3, which included the lander Vikram and the rover Pragyan, successfully touched down on the lunar surface on August 23, becoming only the fourth nation to do so. The nation was also the first to reach the unexplored south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite thanks to the landing.
Isro reported that the Pragyan rover had been put to sleep on Saturday. The space agency hopes to wake it up 14 days later.
The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) are the rover’s two payloads. The payloads that use the lander to transmit data to the Earth are disabled.
Together, the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover had been gathering important scientific data. The APXS and LIBS payloads are made to examine the mineralogy and elemental makeup of lunar rocks and soil.
The Pragyan rover will serve as India’s lunar ambassador for all time if it does not experience a “successful awakening”.
