Chandrayaan-3 phase two to begin in a few hours : Jitendra Singh

New Delhi, Sep 21 : Union Minister for Space Jitendra Singh on Thursday said the second Phase of Chandrayaan-3 would begin a few hours from now, when dawn breaks on the Moon after a gap of 14 days.

Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the success of Chandrayaan-3 and other achievements of the nation in the space sector, the minister said: “ISRO is in the process of trying to re-establish communication with Chandrayaan-3’s solar-powered lander Vikram and rover Pragyan, to revive them so that they can continue with scientific experiments.”

He emphatically asserted that India will become the world’s first country to start the second phase of Lunar Mission after activation of the communication circuit.

It may be recalled that the Lander and the Rover were put into sleep mode earlier this month on September 4 and 2 respectively, ahead of the lunar night of 14 days’ duration.

“There is huge variation of temperature ranging from minus 150 degrees at night to 100 degrees during day time, and therefore, we all are hoping and praying that solar batteries and solar panels will help the beginning of the unprecedented 2nd Phase of Moon Mission,” said Jitendra Singh.

Replying to concerns raised by some opposition members that the government has cut the budget for ISRO, the minister said the budget saw a jump of over 142 percent from Rs 5,168 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 12,543 crore in the current financial year. Similarly, the budget for all Science Ministries and Departments was increased from Rs 21,025 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 57,303 crore in 2022-23, which is a jump of over 172 per cent, he said.