Chandrayaan 2: Vikram lander crashed within 500 meters of the target location, says Centre

New Delhi : In yet another development about the crashed Vikram lander from Chandrayaan 2, the information has been provided that it touched down moon's surface within the range of 500 meters of the assigned target location.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha Jitendra Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, who looks after the department of space, threw light on the actual happenings during ISRO's maiden attempt to soft land Vikram on the Moon's surface.

"During the second phase of descent, the reduction in velocity was more than the designed value. Due to this deviation, the initial conditions at the start of the fine braking phase were beyond the designed parameters. As a result, Vikram hard-landed within 500 metres of the designated landing site," he said.

Emphasizing on how technological instruments were working in perfect condition till the last stage, he said it is due to the precise launch and orbital maneuvers, the mission life of the orbiter is increased to seven years, he said.

Chandrayaan 2 was officially launched onboard the indigenous GSLV MK III-M1 Mission on July 22. After accomplishing four earth-bound maneuvers and trans-lunar injection, the spacecraft was successfully inserted in the lunar orbit on August 20.

The Lander ''Vikram'' was separated, as planned, from the Orbiter on September 2 2019.

After two successful de-orbiting maneuvers, powered descent of the lander was initiated on September 7 to achieve soft landing on the moon surface.