Chandrayaan-2: Lander Vikram Had Hard Landing, May Be Hiding In Shadow, Says NASA

Releasing high-resolution images of the lunar region where Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram, had attempted an ambitious soft landing, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on Friday confirmed that the spacecraft had a ‘hard landing.’

A statement from NASA titled Obscured in the lunar highlands? said, “Vikram had a hard landing and the precise location of the spacecraft in the lunar highlands is yet to be determined.”

The space agency tweeted a set of lunar surface images of the southern site where Vikram probably crashed on Sept. 7. The images were taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) but because of dusk, the lander could not be located.

The statement read, “It was dusk when the landing area was imaged and thus large shadows covered much of the terrain; it is possible that the Vikram lander is hiding in a shadow.”

According to the agency, Vikram had attempted a landing on Sept. 7 on a small patch of lunar highland smooth plains between Simplelius N and Manzinus C craters.

NASA also stated it will attempt to locate and image the lander in October when the lighting will be more favorable. “The lighting will be favorable when LRO passes over the site in October and once again attempts to locate and image the lander,” it added.

Chandrayaan-2 was India’s first attempt at a soft landing on the Moon and also the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after Chandrayaan-1.