The mission performed by the Indian Space Research Agency (ISRO)'s spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, currently orbiting the Moon is carrying on very well so far. It has already successfully launched an impacting probe to the lunar surface and has sent the first pictures and scientific data collected back to Earth. But now, as the orbiter has entered the sunlit side of the Moon and receives increased amounts of heat, scientists opted to use its instruments sporadically for prevention purposes.

This is a normal cyclical process and it's experienced by all of the lunar orbiters. Besides the increased amount of sunlight, the lit face of the Moon also reflects a large part of it back towards the spacecraft, which causes rising temperatures. But since this is the first one for Chandrayaan-1, the Indian technicians decided to avoid any risk and see how it affects the probe. So, they are only switching on one instrument at a time (with two instruments that haven't been turned on at all so far), until the craft is cool enough again.

 

"This rise and fall in temperature inside a satellite is a normal cyclical process," explained Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director for Chandrayaan-1 for the Indian Express publication, cited by Universe Today. "There is nothing unusual about it. But since this is the first cycle being faced by Chandrayaan, we are being extra cautious. We have decided to wait till the temperatures dip to bring the mission into the operational phase."

 

The orbiter is provided with a heating device that will help it overcome the low temperatures it will be subjected to when it advances through to the dark side of the Moon, but it doesn’t possess a cooler that would do the exact opposite during the situation it experiences. There is no need to worry, though. The instruments are believed to work just fine, but the experts only thought "it would be wise to wait for the temperature to go down before testing them," shared Annadurai. "We are well within the upper limit of the spacecraft’s temperature bracket. But we want to remain in this comfort zone as it is our first experience."