Chandrayaan 2: 'Vikram' lander is not broken, lies as single piece, ISRO hopeful
'We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander,' ISRO official saidChandrayaan-2 orbiter is healthy and safe in the lunar orbit, an ISRO official said
PremiumIndian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is continuing effort to restore link with Chandrayaan 2's 'Vikram' lander. The 'Vikram' lander lies on the lunar surface as a single piece, unbroken and it is in a tilted position following a hard landing while efforts to re-establish link with the probe were on, an ISRO official said.
Vikram hit the lunar surface after communication with the ground-stations was lost during its final descent, just 2.1 km above the lunar surface on Saturday.
"We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander," ISRO official said.
An ISRO team is the on the job at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network to establish link with Chandrayaan-2's 'Vikram' lander, now lying on the lunar surface after a hard-landing.
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.
ISRO Chairman K Sivan had said on Saturday that the space agency would try to restore link with the lander for 14 days, and reiterated the resolve on Sunday after the orbiter's camera spotted it on the Lunar surface.
"Unless and until everything is intact (lander), it's very difficult (to re-establish contact). Chances are less. Only if it had soft-landing, and if all systems functioned, then only communication can be restored," said an ISRO official.
Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is healthy and safe in the lunar orbit, an ISRO official said.
Pointing out that the orbiter has already been placed in its intended orbit around the Moon, ISRO said, it shall enrich our understanding of the moon's evolution and mapping of the minerals and water molecules in the polar regions, using its eight state-of-the-art scientific instruments.
"The orbiter camera is the highest resolution camera (0.3 metres) in any lunar mission so far and shall provide high resolution images which will be immensely useful to the global scientific community," it said.
ISRO said 90 to 95% of the Chandrayaan-2 mission objectives have been accomplished and will continue to contribute to Lunar science, notwithstanding the loss of communication with the lander which hit lunar surface after failing in its planned attempt to soft-land in the early hours of Saturday.
(With PTI inputs)
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