Contact with the Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram was lost on Saturday when it was attempting a soft landing on the surface of the Moon (PTI photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- All efforts being made to contact Vikram: Isro
- Contact with Vikram was lost on Saturday
- Isro located Vikram on the Moon's surface on Sunday
The Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram still remains out of contact four days after the probe went silent during its attempt to land on the Moon. The Indian Space Research Organisation Tuesday morning said the Vikram lander has been located on the lunar surface, but there is still no communication with it. "All possible efforts are being made to establish communication with lander," Isro said, repeating information it had released Sunday.
Isro located Vikram on Sunday, a day after the space agency lost contact with the lander. Since losing communications with Vikram early Saturday morning, Isro has been making constant efforts to get in touch with the lander.
However, hope is fading. Vikram -- and the rover Pragyaan that is housed inside the lander -- had a mission life of 14 days. With less than 10 days to go for Vikram's mission life to come to an end, Isro is running out of time to establish contact with the Chandrayaan- 2 lander.
In its efforts to locate and make contact with Vikram, Isro has also deployed the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which is safe in its orbit around the Moon. It was the orbiter that located Vikram on the lunar surface on Sunday.
ORBITER GETS A BOOST
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which is where the majority of the Chandrayaan-2 experiments are present, has increased its mission life by several years.
Originally, the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter was supposed to last a year. However, Isro has been able to extend the orbiter's life to seven years.
Over the course of the next few years, the Chandrayaan-2 will perform a number of experiments including those to map the lunar surface and study the Moon's atmosphere.
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