Fate of Chandrayaan – 2’s lander might be known tonight

During the descent to the lunar surface on September 7, ISRO lost communications with the Vikram lander and the space agency has been trying to establish contact with the lander for the past ten days.

The lander was, however, spotted on the surface of the Moon on September 8, by the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter, which is currently circling the Moon. Later today, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)*, which is operated by USA’s NASA will fly over the lander’s site on the Moon and attempt to capture photographs of it. This is expected to determine the fate of the spacecraft.

In a major breakthrough for India’s second lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan 2 successfully entered the Moon’s orbit on August 20 at 9.02 am after 30 days of journey in space. India’s second moon mission Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra’s Nellore district at 2.43 pm. It was launched atop a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) MkIII, India’s most powerful rocket and carried an orbiter, a Lander Vikram, and a Rover Pragyan, and it revolved around the moon for 12 days.

*Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is part of an exploration-cum-science mission which was launched in 2009. The LRO’s primary mission is mapping the lunar surface to identify sites for future robot and human missions to the Moon, according to a report.