Chandrayaan 2: Lander Vikram located on moon, ISRO trying to establish connection
New Delhi : Chandrayaan 2 lunar lander Vikram has been located on the moon's surface. The ground station is now trying to establish a connection with the lander, ISRO chief K Sivan told news agency ANI on Sunday.
ISRO had lost its communication with the lander just 2.1 kilometer above the moon surface when it was in its final phase of making a soft landing on the south pole of the planet.
"We've found the location of lander Vikram on lunar surface and orbiter has clicked a thermal image of the lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon," Mr Sivan said.
With the mission, India had aimed of creating history and become the fourth nation - after the United States, Russia and China – to soft land on the moon. It would also have made India the first country to complete a soft landing near the South Pole on its first attempt.
Talking to a television channel, K Sivan blamed faulty execution of the last stage of the operation for the loss of communication.
"The last part of the operation was not executed in the right manner. It was in that phase that we lost link with the lander, and could not establish contact subsequently," he said.