Bangalore: The ‘Vikram’ lander is lying 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 it were on, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said Monday.
‘Vikram’, which encases rover ‘Pragyan’ went out of contact during its final descent, when it was just 2.1 km above the lunar surface, in the early hours of September 7.
“The lander is there (on lunar surface) as a single piece, not broken into pieces. It’s in a tilted position,” an ISRO official associated with the mission claimed.
Though the lander hit the surface hard while landing, it is still very close to the scheduled touchdown site as per the images sent by the orbiter’s onboard camera, the official informed. “We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander,” he said. “An ISRO team is the on the job at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC).”
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 Saturday that the space agency would try to restore link with the lander for 14 days, and reiterated the resolve September 8 after the orbiter’s camera spotted it on the lunar surface.
Another ISRO official however, stated that chances of restoring link with ‘Vikram’ are quite bleak since its system functionality is a prerequisite to achieve that.
“Unless and until everything is intact (in lander), it’s very difficult (to re-establish contact). Chances are slim. Only if it had soft-landing, and if all systems functioned, then only communication can be restored. Things are bleak as of now,” the official informed.
A second ISRO official however, listed the limitations involved. Recalling ISRO’s experience of recovering a spacecraft that went out of contact in the geostationary orbit, he said the lander’s case was dissimilar.
“In the case of Vikram, that kind of operational flexibility is not there. Since it is already on the lunar surface it cannot be reoriented,” pointed out the scientist. “Such an operation is extremely difficult. We will have to keep our fingers crossed,” he added.
PTI