After completing a historic landing on the lunar surface, putting India in the tiny club of countries that have safely placed a spacecraft on the moon, the Chandrayaan-3 lander is now asleep — resting through the 14-day lunar night before mission controllers attempt to reawaken the spacecraft later this month.

The primary goals of the mission have now been successfully checked off the list, cementing the Chandrayaan-3 lander’s legacy in exploration history. For nearly two weeks, the lander carried out technology demonstrations and data collection mainly focused on analyzing the composition of the moon’s soil and super-thin atmosphere.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed on the lunar surface on August 23. The safe touchdown made India only the fourth nation in the world to complete such a feat, following the former Soviet Union, the United States and China. So far in the 21st Century, only China and India have landed on the moon.

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The Chandrayaan-3 lander is captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is currently in orbit around the moon. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft’s dark shadow is visible against a bright halo surrounding the vehicle, which resulted from the rocket plume interacting with the fine-grained regolith (soil).

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University

It also marked the first mission to explore so close to the lunar south pole, a region of key scientific and strategic importance for global space powers because it is believed to be home to deposits of water ice. The resource could be harvested and converted into drinking water or even rocket fuel for future missions that explore deeper into the cosmos.

In India, the Chandryaan-3 mission has been hailed as a point of national pride. More than 70 million people watched online coverage of the landing, and thousands more packed into auditoriums and viewing parties across the country.

“Our tireless scientific efforts will continue in order to develop better understanding of the Universe for the welfare of entire humanity,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on social media September 2, celebrating the Chandrayaan-3 mission and the recent launch of India’s first spacecraft dedicated to studying the sun.

The Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, confirmed on Monday, September 4, that the Chandryaan-3 lunar lander had been put into sleep mode, as the spacecraft isn’t designed to continue collecting scientific data while its landing spot is in the Earth’s shadow, or lunar night.

But the space agency hopes that the lander — and a small six-wheeled rover it deployed — will be reawakened later this month, on September 22.

A look back at Chandryaan-3

The Chandrayaan-3 landing in August came mere days after Russia failed in its attempt to put a similar spacecraft, Luna-25, near the moon’s south pole. Standing in sharp contrast to the tense failures of Luna-25, the Chandryaan-3 vehicle almost immediately began dispatching updates on its successes.

The day after landing, the ISRO confirmed that the Chandryaan-3 lander had successfully deployed the six-wheeled lunar rover that had ridden to the surface tucked inside the spacecraft’s body.

It was released by rolling down a small ramp before setting off “in pursuit of lunar secrets at the South Pole,” the ISRO said on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.

Together, the lander, which weighs about 1,700 kilograms (3,748 pounds), and the 26-kilogram (57.3-pound) rover are packed with nearly a dozen scientific instruments. They include a laser that can analyze the chemical composition of the moon’s regolith — aiding in the hunt for water ice — and the ultra-thin layer of gases that make up the moon’s exosphere. The rover is also equipped with a seismometer that attempted to detect quakes within the moon’s interior.

The ISRO confirmed that all the instruments were “performing normally” during the mission.

The space agency shared sporadic updates on social media, posting first glimpses at various data points gathered by the lander and rover, which managed to travel a total of more than 100 meters (330 feet) across the lunar surface and was able to snap photos of the lander during its trek.

One experiment measured the temperature of the moon’s topsoil at various depths, and ISRO scientist BHM Darukesha told a local news outlet, PTI, that the surface was hotter than expected.

“We all believed that the temperature could be somewhere around 20 degree centigrade to 30 degrees centigrade (68 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit) on the surface but it is 70 degree centigrade (158 degrees Fahrenheit). This is surprisingly higher than what we had expected,” he said.

The rover also detected some seismic activity using an instrument designed to measure rumbles and quakes beneath the lunar surface, and the rover used a spectroscope to confirm the presence of sulfur near the moon’s south pole. Now scientists will aim to investigate how the element got there and whether it exists naturally on the surface or was put there by a meteor strike or volcanic activity, according to the ISRO.

The ISRO put the rover to rest on September 2, though its solar panels were oriented to catch the first sun rays as the moon travels back into daytime later this month.

“Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments! Else, it will forever stay there as India’s lunar ambassador,” the ISRO posted on X.

But the lander wasn’t finished. It completed another stunning feat on September 4, firing up its engines to lift itself about 40 centimeters (16 inches) off the ground and make a small hop to land about 30 to 40 centimeters (12 to 16 inches) away from its original position.

The ISRO emphasized the importance of this technology demonstration, noting that being able to get a lander back off the lunar surface will be essential for future missions that aim to return soil samples — or even astronauts — back home after a lunar mission.

Shortly after, the lander joined the rover, entering its own slumber and awaiting its reawakening when the sunshine returns to its resting place.

It’s not yet certain that the lander and rover will, in fact, properly function when mission controllers attempt to turn them back on later this month.

But all of the primary objectives the ISRO set out for the mission have been met.

Photos: Rare blue supermoon dazzles stargazers around the globe

A peacock sits on a chimney as a nearly full moon rises behind it, in Hyderabad, India, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. August 30 will see the month’s second supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Mahesh Kumar A.

The supermoon rises near the equestrian statue of Damdin Sukhbaatar on Sukhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. August 30 sees the month’s second supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Ng Han Guan

A Supermoon is seen on the sky as a woman walks on the street, in Vosloorus, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. August 30 sees the month’s second supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

Themba Hadebe

The supermoon rises behind the ancient temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) south of Athens, Greece, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Thanassis Stavrakis

The supermoon rises over the Mediterranean sea as a boat passes at Konnos bay near Ayia Napa and Protaras on the eastern part of the island of Cyprus, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Petros Karadjias

The supermoon rises behind Ayioi Anargiroi Orthodox church near Ayia Napa and Protaras in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It is dubbed a supermoon because it is closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Petros Karadjias

The full moon rises behind the Galata tower in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It is dubbed a supermoon because it is closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Khalil Hamra

The supermoon rises in the sky of Gaza City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Adel Hana

The supermoon rises in the sky over the houses of Gaza City, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Adel Hana

The August Super Blue Moon sets behind a historical building and the St. Basil’s Cathedral, right, as people walk in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rises Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It is dubbed a supermoon because it is closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Alexander Zemlianichenko

The moon known as blue moon rises behind the small village of Ujue, northern Spain, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Alvaro Barrientos

A supermoon rises over the Colosseum in Rome, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Gregorio Borgia

The supermoon rises behind the Chlemoutsi medival castle in Kyllini, Peloponnese, Greece, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Petros Giannakouris

The full moon rises beyond the Martyrs statue, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. August 30 will see the month’s second supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Hussein Malla

Akıncı unmanned aerial craft passing in front of the Supermoon during a demonstration flight on the first day of Teknofest technology and aerospace festival in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Emrah Gurel

A supermoon rises over Montevideo, Uruguay, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, also known as a blue moon. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)

Matilde Campodonico

People watch a supermoon rise above Lisbon, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. It’s the month’s second supermoon, when a full moon appears a little bigger and brighter thanks to its slightly closer position to Earth. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Armando Franca

A rare Blue Supermoon rises over Lake Michigan as spectators watch from Chicago’s 31st Street beach Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Charles Rex Arbogast

The supermoon, blue moon, rises behind a thick layer of clouds near a statue of the angel Moroni perched atop The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Kensington, Md. The cosmic curtain rose Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it is considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Julio Cortez

A super moon rises behind Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in New York. A rare blue supermoon — the closest full moon of the year — dazzled stargazers Wednesday night. It was the second full moon of August, thus the blue label. And it was unusually close to Earth, therefore a supermoon. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Manu Fernandez

A man watches from the upper deck of a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates as the moon rises in the distance Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. The moon was a rare blue supermoon, named so because it was the second full moon in August, thus the blue label, and it was unusually close to Earth, therefore a supermoon. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Charlie Riedel

The full moon rises beyond a sign in the outfield during a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. The moon was a rare blue supermoon, named so because it was the second full moon in August, thus the blue label, and it was unusually close to Earth, therefore a supermoon. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Charlie Riedel

A blue supermoon rises between the Salesforce Tower and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Eric Risberg

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The post What’s subsequent for India’s lunar lander — Chandrayaan-3 appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

In 2017, Anoop Babani, based in Goa former journalist, recovering from a bicycle accident when he came across a 1931 book, Cycling Around the World, written by three Indians who had cycled around the world in the days before the spread of paved roads and satellite communications.

“A new China was born in the world,” they wrote prophetically about one of their goals. “Few see them; but those who see it recognize how it will influence the course of the world and shape world history. ”The cyclists – Adi Hakim, Jal Bapasola and Rustom Bhumgara – have documented their entire, unusual four and a half year expedition. In India in the early 20th century, cycling was used for commuting. It was never seen as a way to see the world.

“They were much more than just cyclists,” says Babani, who together with his wife, the artist, writer and enthusiastic cyclist Savia Viegas, researched the expedition in more detail. They found how cyclists were returning to tell India more about a changing world – and to inspire others to take similar journeys: four other such global expeditions between 1923 and 1942, in which six other cyclists took part. All who participated in the small enthusiasm came from the Parsi community of Mumbai (then Bombay).

Babani and Viegas collected archival information, interviewed family members, and found photos. Their work resulted in a photographic exhibition, Our Saddles, Our Butts, Their World, and has now taken the form of a book, The Bicycle Diaries: Indian Cyclists and Their Incredible Journeys Around the World. The result is a glimpse into a world between the wars, amid far-reaching social and political changes. It also put the adventurous cyclists in jail a few times.

Savia Viegas and Anoop Babani are both avid cyclists and found like-minded people in the forgotten two-wheeled adventurers of the early 20th century. Courtesy of Anoop Babani and Savia Viegas

Adi Hakim was a member of the Bombay Weightlifting Club with a knack for outdoor activities. In The Bicycle Diaries, his granddaughter Jasmine Marshall says, “’Nothing is impossible,’ he always said to me. A passion, I am sure, that all of his bike colleagues share. ”There were six of them, including Bapasola, Bhumgara and three others, who started the great expedition but did not complete it. It is not entirely clear what inspired these young Parsees (an ethno-religious group that practices Zoroastrianism) and those who followed them, but Babani believes that this was their way of participating in the Indian struggle for freedom. “Instead of waving flags and taking part in demonstrations, they chose a dangerous route,” he says, “to paint a true picture of India for the world, reflecting the glorious civilization, culture and architecture of our homeland.”

The expedition left Mumbai on October 15, 1923. When they returned in March 1928, they had been to 27 countries and cycled more than 40,000 miles – through Punjab, Balochistan, the Middle East, Europe, the United States, Japan and Southeast Asia. They met thick forests, swamps and the terrible loneliness of the Alps.

Each man rode a Royal Benson bicycle and carried only a British passport, clothes and medicine, bicycle repair tools, a used compass, a world map, and Rs. 2,000 – about $ 27. But they also brought skills with them on the journey. Hakim was the chronicler, Bhumgara was a trained auto mechanic known for performing circus-like acrobatics, and Bapasola was the card reader. For the first three months they cycled through India and then to what is now Iran, where Bhumgara pulled a car with five passengers across the street with his teeth in order to earn money. From there they went to Baghdad and through the Syrian-Mesopotamian desert, which they crossed in 23 days. Family members describe this as the worst part of their trip – and a phenomenal accomplishment.

Hakim, Bhumgara, Nariman Kapadia, Bapasola, Keki Pochkhanawala and Gustad Hathiram (from left to right), known as the “Super Six”, began the journey. Three made it around the world. Courtesy of Anoop Babani and Savia Viegas

Lovji Hakim, the third of Hakim’s seven sons, says in the book that his father let them all say their last prayers once. “Fortunately, some Bedouins found them,” he says. “Every time my father told me this story, he suddenly fell silent and humbled himself that he was alive.”

“Our lives, we were told, were in great danger from their raids,” they wrote about the people who helped them to get through the desert. “Instead, we found the Bedouins as friends rather than foes throughout our trip.”

A sea voyage then took them from Alexandria in Egypt to Brindisi in Italy. In Rome they got an autograph from then Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, and in the Vatican they had an audience with Pope Pius XI. At that time Europe was still deeply marked by the First World War: poverty, poor roads and unsanitary conditions. In Rome they were mistaken for German spies and spent one night behind bars. But the Prime Minister’s autograph and a news report about her trip in a Roman newspaper underpinned her otherwise far-fetched story.

An embossed note testifies to the audience of the cyclists with Pope Pius XI. Courtesy of Anoop Babani and Savia Viegas

After collecting some money in Europe, they set out to New York on their bikes, which they found “adorable”. They spent two weeks among skyscrapers, traffic and flicker. One of her first riding companions, Gustad Hathiram, decided to stay in the United States. (He became an auto mechanic in Florida and died in 1973.)

The remaining cyclists spent the next five months cycling around the United States, where they were warmly welcomed by hundreds of Indians studying at American universities. In Detroit they worked briefly for the Ford Motor Company, presumably on the assembly line for the iconic Model T.

They were particularly impressed with American roads. “It was the first time on our trip that we could drive 100 miles a day for five days in a row,” they wrote of the trip from Boston to Buffalo. They found other parts of the American experience daunting, like the rude and abusive immigration authorities. “The immigrant is at best tolerated and viewed with suspicion,” they wrote. They were equally appalled by the “racial discrimination of the most humiliating character observed on trains, at stations, on trams, in hotels and at amusement parks”. They continued: “For them India is a semi-barbaric country, inhabited by black figures, mystics, magicians, and haunted by snakes and tigers.”

In America “immigrants are at best tolerated and viewed with suspicion”.

They sailed from San Francisco to Japan in November 1925. From there they went to the mainland and were the first to cycle through the “Hermit Kingdom” of Korea in winter. This brought them to China, which was pulsating with violent political change. Rifles were pointed at their heads when they were suspected of being spies. In Indochina (now Vietnam), they were furious about the immigration rules and the way the French colonial government treated Indians. Bapasola wrote an article about it for a local newspaper, whereupon they – again – were arrested on charges of “causing hatred and contempt for the (French) government of Indochina”. They write. They were only released after the intervention of the governor of Siagon, Maurice Antoine Francois Monguillot, himself an athlete.

Finally, they returned to Mumbai in March 1928 and received a rousing welcome. On the way they were warmly received, awarded 26 medals, held public lectures and collected 146 autographs: kings, the Pope, prime ministers, presidents, industrialists, mayors – even Zhang Zuolin, the warlord of Manchuria.

Your efforts have inspired others. In January 1924, the sports journalist Framroze Davar went on a solo expedition. He got a travel partner in Vienna, Gustav Sztavjanik, and the two of them cycled together through 52 countries for seven years. “Your trip was the hardest and most adventurous,” says Babani: West Africa, the Sahara, the Amazon, the Andes.

A later expedition with Rustam Ghandhi, Kaikee Kharas and Rutton Shroff (left to right) spent nine years on the road and covered more than 50,000 miles. Courtesy of Anoop Babani and Savia Viegas

In April 1933, another trio from Mumbai – Kaikee Kharas, Rustam Ghandhi, and Rutton Shroff – began a nine-year expedition of more than 50,000 miles. “They were the first cyclists to ever cycle through iron Afghanistan,” says Babani. You were present at the historic Nuremberg Party Congress of the NSDAP, to which Adolf Hitler spoke, and were the first to cycle through Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Two more solo expeditions followed. 18-year-old Jamshed Mody walked in May 1934 and covered 30,000 miles in three years. Manek Vajifdar left the same month, but ended his trip four years later due to international conflict in London. All in all, the expeditions resulted in half a dozen more books and opened the world to Indians at home who may never have a chance to see them.

On their return, the original three cyclists received praise but were not officially recognized by the British Government of India, which could be one reason their efforts were no longer celebrated. “Back then, cycle tourism was a completely different ball game. It was an upper class persecution initiated and introduced mainly by American and European cyclists in the early 20th century, ”says Babani. “A handful of Indian cyclists were impressed by it and got involved. Therefore, it was imperative for the then ruling British Empire to acknowledge their deeds. Since this did not happen, the cyclists and their journeys were completely forgotten until recently. “

The three original cyclists in China. “A new China was born in the world,” they wrote about this part of their trip. Courtesy of Anoop Babani and Savia Viegas

After basking in some glory, all three cyclists returned to normal life. Hakim had a long career in the oil industry. Bhumgara joined the independence movement, supported the Indian National Congress and worked in the auto industry. Bapasola joined a steel company.

Babani and Viegas are now pushing for a museum and public monuments to honor all cyclists. And Babani says he’s seeing a resurgent interest in recreational cycling in India: megastores selling premium bikes, an explosion of local cycling clubs, new endurance cycling events. But cycling around the world? That remains an ultimate challenge. “Her achievements and her spirit of adventure have left an indelible mark on the country,” says Babani, “and a source of inspiration.”

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