Chandrayaan 2’s ‘Vikram Lander’ Landed But In A Tilted Position: ISRO Official
Mumbai: All eyes on ISRO still as they are making all efforts to connect with Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram Lander. Now it has been reported that the lander is lying on the lunar surface after a hard-landing.
Vikram, with the rover ‘Pragya’, placed inside it, collided with the lunar surface, was lost in the early hours of Saturday, only 2.1 km above the lunar surface, after communication with ground-stations during its last descent.
“According to the images sent by the on-board camera of the orbiter, it was very close to the planned (touch-down) site. The lander is in the form of a single piece, not broken into pieces. It’s in one. Tilted place, “An ISRO official attached to the mission claimed on Monday.
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“We are trying to see if communication with the lander can be re-established,” the official said.
“An ISRO team is the on the job at ISROTelemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here.”
Chandrayaan-2 comprises an orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan). The mission life of the lander and rover is one Lunar day, which is equal to 14 earth days.
Earlier ISRO Cheif K Sivan said that the space agency would try to restore the link with the lander for 14 days, and reiterated the resolve on Sunday after the orbiter’s camera spotted it on the Lunar surface.
An ISRO official said: “As long as everything is intact (the lander), it is very difficult (to reestablish contact). Chances are slim. Only if it had a soft-landing, And if all systems work, only communication can happen. Has been restored. Things are bleak by now. ”
Another senior officer of the space agency said, “I would consider it (restoring link) good.”
Also Read: Exact Location Of Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram Lander On Moon Found : ISRO Chief K Sivan
“But there are limitations. We have experience recovering the spacecraft (which lost contact) in geostationary orbit. But here (in Vikram’s case), there is not that kind of operational flexibility. Already it is the lunar surface. Is lying on., And we cannot retrieve it. The important thing is that the antennas must point to the ground station or orbiter. This kind of operation is extremely difficult. Time, prospects are good and we have to cross our fingers, “the official said.
The official said that power-generating land is not a problem, as it has “all-around solar panels” and also has “internal batteries”, which are “not overused.”
Vikram performed three payload radio anatomies of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA), Chandra’s Surface Thermo-Physical Experiment (Chesti) and Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA).
(With PTI Inputs)
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