20 September,2019 10:49 AM IST | Houston | Agencies
This screen grab taken from a live webcast by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 6 shows Vikram Lander before it was supposed to land on the Moon. File pic
Houston: As the deadline to re-establish communication with Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander nears, NASA's Moon orbiter has captured images of the lunar region where the mission made an unsuccessful attempt to soft land, according to a media report that quoted a project scientist of the US space agency. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has snapped a series of images during its flyby on September 17 of Vikram's attempted landing site near the Moon's uncharted south pole, and the US space agency is now analysing and reviewing them.
The probability of establishing contact with the lander has a deadline of September 21 because after that the Moon region will enter into a lunar night. LRO deputy project scientist John Keller shared a statement confirming that the orbiter's camera captured the images, according to a report in cnet.com. "The LROC team will analyse these new images and compare them to previous images to see if the lander is visible (it may be in shadow or outside the imaged area)," Keller was quoted as saying in the statement.
NASA is validating, analysing and reviewing the images. It was near lunar dusk when the orbiter passed over, meaning large parts of the area were in shadow, the report said. A national-level committee comprising academics and ISRO experts are analysing the cause of communication loss with Chandrayaan-2 lander ahead of its planned soft landing on the lunar surface, the space agency said on Thursday.
3,840
Weight of Chandrayaan-2 in kg
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