Published 11:19 IST, September 9th 2019
Chandrayaan-1 chief's theory: Obstacles may be stopping Vikram comms
Mylswamy Annadurai, Director of Chandrayaan 1 said that obstacles on the moon’s surface may be stopping the Vikram lander from receiving signals from orbiter
As the efforts to re-establish connection with the Vikram lander of Chandrayaan 2 is being made, the director of India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan 1 said that the obstacles on the Moon may be stopping Vikram lander from recieving signals. Mylswamy Annadurai, director of Chandrayaan 1 said that obstacles on the moon’s surface may be stopping the Vikram lander from receiving signals. “We have located the lander, we now have to establish contact. The place, where the lander alighted is expected to be not conducive enough for it to soft-land. There may be some obstacles, which could have been stopping us from establishing the connection,” Annadurai told news agency ANI.
ISRO spotted Vikram lander
ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Sunday said to ANI that they have spotted the location of Vikram Lander on the Lunar surface. Sivan also said that Chandrayaan 2's orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Vikram Lander. While ISRO has not yet established any communication with the Lander, they are still trying to do the same, according to ANI. Sivan also told PTI that the Vikram's landing must have been a hard-landing. On September 7, India'smoon mission Chandrayaan 2 was scheduled to make a soft-landing on moon's south pole with its Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. However, just minutes before the touchdown, communication with the lander was lost even as the Vikram lander was only 2.1 kilometres away from the lunar surface. Following the unfortunate loss of communication with the lander, ISRO chief said that attempts will be made to re-establish the communication with the Lander in the next 14 days.
What happened during Vikram's soft-landing?
Earlier on Saturday morning at 1:50 AM when Vikram was scheduled to land, ISRO's Deep Space Antenna lost communication with Chandrayaan-2's lander- Vikram as it descended towards the lunar surface. The lander had descended from 30 km to 2km smoothly. During the final smooth braking stage, it had lost communication with Mission Control. Vikram was aimed at soft-landing on the moon, making India the fourth country to do so.
Updated 11:57 IST, September 9th 2019