Chandrayaan 2: NASA finds Vikram lander’s debris on moon’s surface

Manglore Today News Network

Delhi, Dec 03, 2019 : Three months after the Vikram lander of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan 2 mission made a hard landing on moon’s surface, the United States’ space agency stated Tuesday that it has found the lander’s debris, Yahoo reported.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Camera has sighted the remains of Vikram lander on the lunar surface.  NASA’s confirmation came after an Indian computer programmer and mechanical engineer named Shanmuga Subramanian contacted NASA’s project after which, the American space agency confirmed the identification by comparing before and after images.

"Shanmuga Subramanian contacted the LRO project with positive identification of debris. After receiving this tip, the LROC team confirmed the identification by comparing before and after images," NASA stated.

NASA further informed that the debris was first located by Shanmuga about 750 meters northwest of the main crash site.  "The LROC team scoured the surrounding area in these new mosaics and found the impact site (70.8810°S,  22.7840°E, 834 m elevation) and associated debris field. The November mosaic had the best pixel scale (0.7 meter) and lighting conditions (72° incidence angle)," it said.

NASA also praised ISRO’s effort to get the lander ’that close’ to the lunar surface.  "...unfortunately, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost contact with their lander shortly before the scheduled touchdown (Sept. 7 in India, Sept. 6 in the United States).  Despite the loss, getting that close to the surface was an amazing achievement," it said.

Meet Shanmuga Subramanian, the Chennai-based engineer who found Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram Lander

New Delhi: "I found Vikram Lander!" reads the new Twitter bio of Shanmuga Subramanian, the Chennai-based mechanical engineer who alerted the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) about the presence of debris of Chandrayaan-2, India’s ambitious moon mission, launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The NASA has credited Subramanian, 33, with the find, a picture of which he posted on his Twitter account. "NASA has credited me for finding Vikram Lander on moon’s surface".