ISRO finds Vikram lander, yet to establish contact

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September 8, 2019

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As per the space agency, it has found the thermal image of the lander but has not been able to establish communication with it yet.

By

Raghu Krishnan

, ET Bureau|

Updated: Sep 08, 2019, 03.33 PM IST

Location of Vikram lander found, yet to establish contact: ISRO chief

The lunar orbiter of the Chandrayaan-2 mission has taken images of the lander on the lunar surface, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) K Sivan said. He added that the space agency has not been able to get any signals so far.

ISRO did not confirm the status of the lander. The orbiter which went around the moon today around the landing slots could take thermal image of the lander.

Sivan had conduct a review with his team members to address the cause of the loss of communication with the lander during its maiden attempt to soft land in the south polar region of the moon. It is suspected that the lander lost control due to malfunctioning of one of the five thrusters that could have destabilised the vehicle.

India's maiden mission was a partial success after the lander Vikram lost communication 2.1 kms away from landing on the moon's surface. The Lander carried the Pragyan rover.

'Vikram', named after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Programme, was designed to execute a soft-landing on the lunar surface, and to function for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 earth days.

The rover was to roll down from the lander explore the surrounding lunar terrain, a few hours after the planned soft-landing.

The Chandrayaan-2 is a Rs 978-crore unmanned moon mission (satellite cost Rs 603 crore, GSLV MK III cost Rs 375 crore).

India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1 successfully launched the 3,840-kg Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft into the Earth's orbit on July 22.

The spacecraft began its journey towards the moon leaving the earth's orbit in the dark hours on August 14, after a crucial manoeuver called Trans Lunar Insertion that was carried out by ISRO to place the spacecraft on "Lunar Transfer Trajectory."

The spacecraft successfully entered the lunar orbit on August 20 by performing Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) manoeuver.

On September 2, 'Vikram' successfully separated from the orbiter, following which two de-orbiting manoeuvres were performed to bring the lander closer to the Moon.

(With PTI Inputs)

In Video: Location of Vikram lander found, yet to establish contact: ISRO chief