Chandrayaan-3: NASA shares unseen picture of Vikram lander on Moon spotted by its lunar orbiter

US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has released an image of the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the Moon. The picture was captured by the space agency’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft.

It shows Vikram lander as a tiny spot in the centre of the image with "it's dark shadow visible against the bright halo surrounding the vehicle".

"@NASA's LRO spacecraft recently imaged the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the Moon’s surface," the space agency wrote sharing the image on microblogging platform X.

According to NASA, the LRO camera acquired an oblique view (42-degree slew angle) of the lander four days later. The bright halo around the vehicle resulted from the rocket plume interacting with the fine-grained regolith (soil).

In a giant leap for its space programme, India's Moon mission Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole at 6.04 pm on August 23, propelling India into an exclusive club of four and making it the first country to land on the uncharted southern pole of the Moon.

On Monday, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said Vikram Lander has been set into sleep mode. Payloads have been switched off while lander receivers are kept on.

Before going into sleep mode, in-situ experiments by ChaSTE, RAMBHA-LP and ILSA payloads on lander were performed at the new location. The data collected was received at the Earth.

ISRO said that Vikram will fall asleep next to Pragyan once the solar power is depleted and the battery is drained. The space agency said it was "hoping for their (Vikram and Pragyan's) awakening, around September 22, 2023."

Scientists at ISRO said that after the Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the lunar surface on August 23, Vikram and Pragyan performed all their planned experiments within one lunar day or approximately 14 earth days and finally after a hop test, have been put on sleep mode.

The temperatures could go up to -200 degree Celsius on the lunar surface soon. The payloads may not be able to withstand extreme temperatures while they are still powered on.

Therefore, the payloads have been switched off and will be powered on only after conditions are conducive for them to work again, an ISRO source said, as per PTI.

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