Published 14:01 IST, September 8th 2019
'Vikram Lander spotted on Lunar surface by Orbiter': ISRO to ANI
In a major update in Chandrayaan 2 mission, ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Sunday has said to ANI that they have spotted the location of Vikram Lander on the moon
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In a major update in Chandrayaan 2 mission, ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Sunday has 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 has assured that communication with Vikram will be established soon, according to ANI.
'Vikram Lander Spotted': ISRO to ANI
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chief, K Sivan to ANI:We've found the location of #VikramLander on lunar surface&orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon. #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/1MbIL0VQCo
— ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2019
Finding Vikram efforts
Earlier on Saturday, ISRO chief K Sivan had confirmed that attempts are still being made to establish contact with the Vikram lander. Communication with the Lander was lost on early Saturday morning while it was just 2.1 km away from the lunar surface, attempting to soft-land on the moon. Sivan further informed that the attempts would be made to establish a link for the next 14 days - a lunar day. He added that a parallel search will be conducted by the orbiter.
Speaking to Doordarshan in his first interview after contact was lost with the lander, K Sivan said, "The science we are going to do won't be just for one year, it'll be for all seven years. Yes, right now the communication is lost but we will try to establish a link, that effort will be going on. We will try for the next 14 days. If at all we are succeeding, we will be able to operate and will get the required data. We will also parallelly search with the orbiter."
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.
13:53 IST, September 8th 2019