Landing on the Moon is only half the battle. The bigger challenge begins when the Sun disappears. A lunar day lasts about 14 Earth days, followed by another 14 days of darkness. During this period, temperatures can plunge to nearly minus 180 degrees Celsius in some regions, creating conditions that can disable electronics, batteries and scientific instruments. This is exactly what happened after Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing in August 2023. While the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover successfully completed their planned objectives during the lunar daytime, the arrival of the lunar night effectively ended surface operations.
