Chandrayaan 2: Vikram Lander Located At Lunar Surface; ISRO Trying To Establish Link

The location was traced with the help of the images taken by the orbiter. The agency is trying to rebuild a communication with the lander.

Bengaluru: Live telecast of soft landing of Vikram module of Chandrayaan 2 on lunar surface, in Bengaluru, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: In what can be termed as a ray of fresh hope for India's first moon mission Chandrayaan 2, the location of  moon lander Vikram, which had lost its link with ISRO in the final minutes of the mission, was found on Sunday to be at the surface of the moon, the agency’s chairman K Sivan informed. The location was traced with the help of the images taken by the orbiter. The agency is trying to rebuild a communication with the Lander. “We've found the location of Vikram Lander on lunar surface and orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon,” ISRO Chairman K Sivan was quoted as saying by ANI. Communication with India's moon lander Vikram was lost as it was descending towards the Moon early on Saturday.  The link was lost as the lander was at an altitude of 2.1 km over the moon's South Pole where it was due to land. According to ISRO, the Vikram Lander followed the planned descent trajectory from its orbit of 35 km to just below 2 km above the surface. The Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 – India’s first moon landing mission - has accomplished 90-95 per cent of the mission objectives. On Saturday in an interview with the Doordarshan, K Sivan had said that the space agency will try to establish link with the lost Vikram Lander for the next 14 days, whose last portion was not executed the right way. "The last portion was not executed the right way, in that phase only we lost the link with the Lander, and could not establish communication subsequently. Right now the communication is lost. We will try to establish a link for the next 14 days," Sivan had said, asserting that the mission is close to being a 100 per cent success. The ground station lost contact with the Lander minutes before its touchdown on the Moon's South Pole early on Saturday. WATCH: