Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram Lander Located: Communications Yet To Be Established

Chandrayaan 2 is one of the most ambitious unmanned Moon mission by the Indian space agency ISRO. Launched successfully on July 22 at 2:43 PM, the spacecraft successfully beamed back images from space. However, the project had a setback last week when ISRO lost communications with the lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan.' This has left the entire nation worried about the success of Chandrayaan- 2 mission. But, it seems that the Orbiter might have found the lost lander.

Chandrayan 2 Orbiter Locates 'Vikram' Lander

K Sivan, ISRO Chief, told ANI that the lunar lander of the Chandrayaan 2 has been located. However, the space research organization is yet to establish contact with the 'Vikram' lander and will keep the nation updated on the latest developments.

Sivan said, "We've found the location of Vikram Lander on lunar surface & orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon".

Sivan further believes that the primary reason for the communication loss could be a hard landing on the lunar surface. As we all know the communications were lost just 2.5kms before the final touchdown. It is also unknown if this landing has caused any damages to the lander.

He added, "It must have been a hard landing. We do not know if the Vikram module was damaged during the landing on the Lunar surface".

Moreover, the space research organization is trying its best to communicate with the lander. And, once it is established successfully, ISRO will be sharing the news with the masses.

Earlier, ISRO had given a statement where it mentioned this project as "highly complex" yet believes the achievements were a "significant technological leap" as compared to the previous missions by ISRO.

As per Mylswamy Annadurai, director of the Chandrayaan 1, the primary reasons for the failure in establishing contacts could be the obstacles on the lunar surface. These obstacles might be stopping the lander from receiving signals. However, nothing can be concluded as of now. We would recommend the readers to wait for the official announcements from ISRO.

We hope that the space agency successfully establishes contact with the Vikram lander soon and this mission completes successfully.