Chandrayaan-2's lander Vikram has been found on the Moon's surface and efforts are being made to re-establish communication with the module. Although the lander is intact, it is currently in a tilted position, ISRO officials stated. Vikram, with rover 'Pragyan' housed inside it, hit the lunar surface after communication with the ground-stations was lost during its final descent, just 2.1 km above the lunar surface, in the early hours of Saturday.
"It had a hard-landing very close to the planned (touch-down) site as per the images sent by the on-board camera of the orbiter. The lander is there as a single piece, not broken into pieces. It's in a tilted position," an ISRO official associated with Chandrayaan 2 claimed.
Meanwhile, Chandrayaan-2's orbiter is in lunar orbit with its eight payloads. It will conduct remote-sensing observations for one year from a 100 km orbit above the Moon's surface. It was the orbiter that had spotted Vikram on the lunar surface on Sunday. ISRO chief K Sivan had said on Saturday that the space agency would try to restore link with the lander Vikram for 14 days. The mission life of the lander and rover is one Lunar day, which is equal to 14 earth days.
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