Chandrayaan-3: NASA’s lunar orbiter shares first detailed image of Vikram Lander

US space agency NASA shared a photograph of the Chandrayan-3 lander, taken by the camera on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on its X account. The picture was taken four days after the successful landing of the Vikram lander on the south pole of the moon.

The image shared is a black-and-white picture that shows Vikram Lander right in the middle of the picture.

Details on NASA’s photograph 

The picture shows Vikram Lander as a tiny little spot in the centre of the image, standing alone on the lunar surface.

The orbiter provided the first detailed look at the landing site, located a considerable distance of approximately 600 kilometers away from the Moon’s South Pole on August 27, just four days after the historic landing on the moon.

Sharing the image on social media platform ‘X’, NASA wrote “LRO spacecraft recently imaged the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the Moon’s surface.”

Giving more details of the historic picture, the news agency said that the LRO camera acquired an oblique view (42-degree slew angle) of the lander four days later. The bright halo around the vehicle resulted from the rocket plume interacting with the fine-grained regolith (soil).

India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission

India became one of the 4 countries after the US, the former Soviet Union, and China to join the elite club of countries to achieve a soft landing on the moon. Moreover, India became the first country to land near the lunar south pole when Vikram lander touched down at a spot that’s about 600km (373 miles) from the pole.

In the ten days since its landing, the rover has spent its time gathering data and images from the Moon’s surface and transmitting them back to Earth. ISRO now says that they “exceeded their mission objectives.”

Moreover, both the lander and the rover that was inside it have been put to sleep as the Sun began to set on the Moon, Isro said last weekend.

Both the lander and the rover that was inside it have been put to sleep as the Sun began to set on the Moon. They also added that they hope for their reawakening around 22 September when the next lunar day starts as the lander and rover need sunlight to charge their batteries and function.