The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter spotted Chandrayaan 3’s Vikram lander on the moon hours after the latter made a successful ‘soft landing’ on the lunar surface. The orbiter clicked a picture with its high-resolution camera. ISRO shared the photographs via social media site X on Friday.
Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter High-Resolution Camera (OHRC)
Chandrayaan-2 was launched in 2019 and was India’s first attempt to explore the south pole of the moon. Unfortunately, its lander crash-landed on the lunar surface, but the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has been gathering important data for the past four years. The images by the orbiter’s high-resolution camera is said to have the best resolution anyone currently has of the moon.
The post by ISRO on the social media site X said, “I spy you! Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter photoshoots Chandrayaan 3 Lander!” Within minutes, however, the post was deleted, and the reason is still unknown.
Chandrayaan-3’s Successful Landing and Its Missions Ahead
On August 23, Chandrayaan 3 lander, ‘Vikram’, successfully landed on the south pole of the moon, making India the first country in the world to have achieved this feat. This also made India the fourth country, after the US, the USSR, China and Russia, to have successfully landed on the lunar surface.
On August 24, ISRO notified that the Pragyaan rover has begun its mission on the moon to explore the south pole of the lunar surface. The rover will be conducting experiments to study the atmosphere, geology and the mineralogy of the moon, and inspect several of its elements, like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and silicon. These experiments will help enhance our understanding of the moon and its surface.
PM Modi, who was present via video call when the Chandrayaan-3 was landing on the moon, will be coming back from his two-nation visit to South Africa and Greece, and head to Bengaluru to meet the teams of scientists of ISRO behind Chandrayaan 3’s success.
Also Read More –
- ISRO Chandrayaan-3 Opens Up New Avenues For India In The Space Race
- India to become 4th country to land its spacecraft on moon
- Chandrayaan-3 launch scheduled for July 14 from Sriharikota
