Published 07:27 IST, September 27th 2019
Chandrayaan 2: NASA says Vikram lander may be hiding in shadows
NASA on Friday has stated that lander Vikram had a hard-landing and that it may be hiding in shadows as the lunar terrain was dark when NASA captured pictures.
Even as ISRO confirms that Chandrayaan 2's orbiter continues to perform scheduled science experiments 'to complete satisfaction', NASA on Friday has stated that lander Vikram had a hard-landing. NASA released high-resolution images captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) during its flyby of the lunar region where India's ambitious Chandrayaan 2 mission attempted a soft landing near the Moon's uncharted south pole. After analysing the images, it found that lander Vikram had a hard landing. However, NASA's statement has also said that it will attempt to capture the picture of Vikram lander once again, assuming that it may be hiding behind the shadows.
The scene was captured from a Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Quickmap fly-around of the targeted landing site image width is about 150 kilometres across the centre. The LRO passed over the landing site on September 17. It acquired a set of high-resolution images of the area; so far the LROC team has not been able to locate or image the lander. LRO will next fly over the landing site on October 14 when lighting conditions will be more favourable, John Keller, Deputy Project Scientist Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, Goddard Space Flight Centre, told PTI via email.
'Vikram lander may be hiding in shadow'
The Vikram lander module attempted a soft landing on a small patch of lunar highland smooth plains between Simpelius N and Manzinus C craters before losing communication with ISRO on September 7, NASA explained. "Vikram had a hard landing and the precise location of the spacecraft in the lunar highlands has yet to be determined, NASA said. However, NASA said that Vikram lander may be hiding in shadows. "It was dusk when the landing area was imaged and thus, large shadows covered much of the terrain. It is possible that the Vikram lander is hiding in a shadow. The lighting will be favourable when LRO passes over the site in October and once again attempts to locate and image the lander," NASA said.
India's moon mission: Chandrayaan 2
Chandrayaan 2 is India's moon mission with which it attempted to land-soft at the south pole of the moon. As Vikram lander of Chandrayaan 2 was about to touchdown the lunar surface, in the morning at 1:50 AM, ISRO's Deep Space Antenna lost communication with Chandrayaan-2's lander- Vikram. The lander had descended from 30km to 2km smoothly, informed ISRO. 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.
(with PTI inputs)
Updated 08:23 IST, September 27th 2019