NASA¡¯s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has flown over a part of the moon where Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram lies, but failed to spot it. After losing contact with Earth during its attempt to land on the lunar surface, exactly after 10 days, NASA¡¯s orbiter has flown over Vikram¡¯s landing site.?
There was a concern that fading sunlight in the region could blur the photos of Vikram lander and that's what happened. The shadows?in the area could not capture the lander's exact position.
"It was near dusk as the region prepares to transition from a two-week lunar day to an equally long lunar night, so shadows covered much of the region, and Vikram may not be in the LROC's field of view," Aviation Week quoted NASA as saying.
ISRO now has only two days to establish contact with Vikram Lander, as it is soon going to be night on the moon, which will last for around two weeks.?Thereafter, the solar panels will not be able to energise and it will be too cold for lander Vikram to operate.
Talking about the LRO, it was launched in 2009 as a part of exploration-cum-science mission. LRO has spent a large part of its mission mapping?the lunar surface to identify sites for future robot and human missions to the Moon.
A spokesperson for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had previously confirmed that the space agency's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will fly over Vikram's landing site on September 17.?
During the early hours of September 7, NASA¡¯s orbiter managed to collect data during Vikram Lander¡¯s descent. A NASA official spoke at an event in the US and said that the orbiter studied changes to Moon¡¯s atmosphere caused by rocket released during Vikram¡¯s descent.?
"As a matter of fact, during the descent of Chandrayaan-2, the LAMP instrument was observing the changes in the exosphere as a result of the rocket effluence coming down," Jay Jenkins, program executive for the Office of Exploration at NASA's Science Mission Directorate, was quoted as saying by Space.com.
NASA also sent 'hello' messages to the Indian lander in hopes to connect with it. NASA¡¯s Jet Propulsion Laboratory beamed a radio frequency to Vikram to establish contact with it.?