India's Moon Rover Completes its Walk, Scientists Analyzing Data Looking for Signs of Frozen Water.

The live feed of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shows the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft seconds before its successful lunar landing on the south pole of the Moon. ISRO/AFP
The live feed of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shows the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft seconds before its successful lunar landing on the south pole of the Moon. ISRO/AFP
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India's Moon Rover Completes its Walk, Scientists Analyzing Data Looking for Signs of Frozen Water.

The live feed of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shows the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft seconds before its successful lunar landing on the south pole of the Moon. ISRO/AFP
The live feed of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shows the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft seconds before its successful lunar landing on the south pole of the Moon. ISRO/AFP

India’s moon rover has completed its walk on the lunar surface and been put into sleep mode less than two weeks after its historic landing near the lunar south pole, India’s space mission said.
“The rover completes its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into sleep mode," with daylight on that part of the moon coming to an end, the Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement late Saturday.
The rover's payloads are turned off and the data it collected has been transmitted to the Earth via the lander, the statement said.
The Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover were expected to operate only for one lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth, said The Associated press.
``Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive the light at the next sunrise expected on September 22, 2023. The receiver is kept on. Hoping for a successful awakening for another set of assignments!” the statement said.
There was no word on the outcome of the rover searches for signs of frozen water on the lunar surface that could help future astronaut missions, as a potential source of drinking water or to make rocket fuel.
Earlier this week, the space agency said the moon rover confirmed the presence of sulfur and detected several other elements. The rover’s laser-induced spectroscope instrument also detected aluminum, iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, oxygen and silicon on the surface, it said.
The Indian Express newspaper said the electronics on board the Indian moon mission are not designed to withstand very low temperatures, less than minus 120 degrees Celsius ( minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit) during the nighttime on the moon. The lunar night also extends for as long as 14 days on Earth.
Pallava Bagla, a science writer and co-author of books on India’s space exploration, said the rover has limited battery power.
The data is back on Earth and will be analyzed by Indian scientists as a first look and then by the global community, he said
By sunrise on the moon, the rover may or may not wake up because the electronics die at such cold temperatures, Bagla said.
``Making electronic circuits and components that can survive the deep cold temperature of the moon, that technology doesn’t exist in India," he said.
After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India last week joined the United States, the Soviet Union and China as only the fourth country to achieve this milestone.
The successful mission showcases India’s rising standing as a technology and space powerhouse and dovetails with Prime Minister Narendra Modi desire to project an image of an ascendant country asserting its place among the global elite.
The mission began more than a month ago at an estimated cost of $75 million.
India’s success came just days after Russia’s Luna-25, which was aiming for the same lunar region, spun into an uncontrolled orbit and crashed. It had been intended to be the first successful Russian lunar landing after a gap of 47 years.
Russia’s head of the state-controlled space corporation Roscosmos attributed the failure to the lack of expertise due to the long break in lunar research that followed the last Soviet mission to the moon in 1976.
Active since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014. India is planning its first mission to the International Space Station next year, in collaboration with the United States.



Marseille Airport Suspends Flights Due to Wildfire as Public Warned to Stay at Home

 Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Marseille Airport Suspends Flights Due to Wildfire as Public Warned to Stay at Home

 Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over Marseille as a fast-moving wildfire spreads on the outskirts the city, southern France, July 8, 2025. (Reuters)

A wildfire spurred by hot summer winds reached France's second-largest city Tuesday, grounding all flights to and from Marseille, injuring at least nine people and forcing many residents to evacuate or barricade themselves indoors as smoke choked the Mediterranean air.

A big city hospital switched to generator power, train traffic was halted in most of the surrounding area, and some roads were closed and others tangled with logjams.

More than 1,000 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which broke out near the town of Les Pennes-Mirabeau before racing toward Marseille. Some 720 hectares (acres) were hit by the blaze, the prefecture said.

Nine firefighters were injured, according to the prefecture, or local administration. No dead have been reported.

The prefecture said in a statement Tuesday evening that “the situation is under control,″ though the fire has not yet been extinguished. It described the fire as “particularly virulent.″

It came on a cloudless, windy day after a lengthy heat wave around Europe left the area parched and at heightened risk for wildfires. Several have broken out in southern France in recent days.

Light gray smoke gave the sky over Marseille’s old port a dusty aspect as water-dropping planes tried to extinguish the fire in the outskirts of the city, which has some 900,000 inhabitants.

Hundreds of homes were evacuated. The prefecture urged people in the affected areas to stay indoors and off the roads. With the fire approaching Marseille, the prefecture also advised residents in the north of the city to keep windows closed to prevent toxic smoke from entering their homes.

One distressed family watched the smoke over their neighborhood in the hills above the port city and showed AP how the roof of their neighbor's house had been damaged in the fire as they worried about their own.

Marseille airport announced that the runway had been closed at around midday. The prefecture said train traffic was halted, notably after a fire neared the tracks in L'Estaque, a picturesque neighborhood of Marseille.

As a safety measure, the city's Hospital Nord switched to generators “due to micro power cuts.”

“The aim is to secure the imaging sector. We are not worried as we have a high level of autonomy,” the University Hospitals of Marseille said, adding that because of the disrupted traffic it asked workers to remain at their posts until the next teams starts its shift.