Published 12:02 IST, September 18th 2019
UP man climbs on bridge, claims will stay till ISRO 'recovers' Vikram
In a bizarre feat to get India's Vikram lander to communicate with ISRO, a UP man named Rajnikant has refused to get down from a bridge until ISRO recovers it
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In a bizarre feat to get India's Vikram lander to communicate with ISRO, a UP man named Rajnikant, on Monday has reportedly refused to get down from a bridge until ISRO 'recovers' Vikram Lander which has hard-landed on the lunar surface on September 7. As per reports, the man hails from Manda in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Reports state that the man climbed a pillar of the New Yamuna Bridge in Prayagraj on Monday night. He was reportedly hit quite hard by the Vikram's hard-landing.
UP man climbs onto bridge till ISRO recovers Vikram
News reports also state that Rajnikant's public display of affection for ISRO's Vikram lander had attracted a huge crowd on the bridge. Seeing the assembled crowd, Rajnikant reportedly passed a handwritten note via an iron plate to the people on the bridge. The note, which was written in Hindi allegedly read, "Till Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander gets back in touch with ISRO, I will keep praying to Moon God." ISRO has a 15-day window to contact Vikram which ends on September 22.
NASA to aid ISRO with 'Vikram Lander'
Meanwhile, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to pass over the Vikram Lander's landing site on September 17. NASA has said that it will share ' any before and after flyover imagery' of the Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander landing site, as per international reports. Reports have stated that the American Space Agency has extended its support to ISRO's analysis of Vikram Lander's hard-landing.
NASA DSN continuously beaming Vikram
Apart from pictures, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is sending radio signals to Vikram Lander, as revealed by Astronomer Scott Tilley. As shared by Tilley in a series of tweets, NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) has been beaming radio frequency to Vikram Lander. Tilley has also reported about the health of Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter which is currently orbiting the moon around 100km from the surface. This is being currently monitored by Tilley's own lab. On September 10, ISRO had confirmed that Vikram was in a single piece on the lunar surface, not broken into pieces, and is in a tilted position with Pragyan housed in it.
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.
11:49 IST, September 18th 2019