It is time to put all the hopes of establishing communication with Vikram lander to bed. Even as many Indians were hopeful of contact with Chandrayaan-2¡¯s lander, reportedly the top ISRO scientists were aware that it had died in a crash in the early hours of September 7, the day the landing was supposed to take place.
TOI reports that the 1,471 kg Vikram, with the 27 kg rover Pragyan in its belly had already crashed on the moon¡¯s surface at the speed of 200 kmph and the systems are unlikely to have survived the impact of the accident.?
ISRO
It was reported by scientists (after seeing the images of Vikram)that the lander was ¡®tilted¡¯ but not damaged beyond recognition. Attempts were apparently still being made to contact the lander. However, NASA recently released pictures of the south pole of the Moon where Vikram lander should have been, but it is not there in the pictures.??
¡°What I saw appeared like a shadow of Vikram,¡± said a scientist who analysed the image. ¡°It was definitely not on its legs. I could see at least two of its four legs protruding. It was either upturned or tilted,¡± TOI quoted one scientist as saying.
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Another scientist reportedly said that if Vikram had landed upright it could still have been saved.?¡°Had it crashed on its legs, the ¡®shoes¡¯ would¡¯ve acted as a shock absorber. But since there has been no signal from Vikram, the onboard computer and other systems must have been damaged,¡± he reportedly said.?
The official wait for reviving Vikram lander ends on September 20, the day when 14 Earth days are completed. The lander and the rover were reportedly designed to work for these 14 days, post which the system would have shut down anyway. This is because a cold night is descending on that region, when the temperatures might dip as low as 183 degrees Celsius.
Well, this is it. Chandrayaan-2 was indeed a success, but maybe it's time to say goodbye, now.