mobanmarketChennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has found its moon lander Vikram on the lunar surface, said an official.
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“The lander seems to have hit the lunar surface and is in an upturned position,” an official said.
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He also said there is a possibility of the lander getting broken on impact.
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The pictures were taken by India’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter that is orbiting the Moon.
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The Orbiter camera is the highest resolution camera (0.3m) in any lunar mission so far, and shall provide high-resolution images which will be immensely useful to the global scientific community, ISRO had said.
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Meanwhile according to reports quoting ISRO Chairman K. Sivan, the space agency has the thermal images of the lander on the lunar surface.
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He said communication link with the lander has not been established after it got snapped on Saturday while landing on the lunar surface.
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On July 22, the Rs 978-crore Chandrayaan-2 was launched into the space by India’s heavy lift rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV Mk III) in a text book style.
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The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprised three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), ‘Vikram’ (1,471 kg, four payloads) and ‘Pragyan’ (27 kg, two payloads).
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After five earth-bound orbit raising activities, Chandrayaan-2 was inserted into the lunar orbit. On September 2, Vikram separated from the orbiter.
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Early on September 7, Vikram while on its descent to soft land on the lunar’s south polar region apparently lost control and crash landed there by losing communication links.
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