Chandrayaan 2: Indian techie who spotted lost Vikram lander says Pragyaan seems 'intact'

In a major development, Indian techie and space enthusiast Shanmuga Subramanian who spotted Vikram lander of Chandrayaan 2 on the lunar surface, has said that rover Pragyan may be 'intact' on Moon's surface. In a series of tweets, he shared images showing that Chandrayaan - 2's Pragyan has rolled out few metres from the skeleton Vikram lander whose payloads got disintegrated due to hard landing.

Moreover, he said that there is a distinct possibility that the commands sent to lander was received and it was relayed it to the rover, however, Vikram lander was not able to communicate it back to the earth. He has tagged ISRO in his findings and shared images of his findings, and has also given a detail explanation for it. 

Here are his tweets:

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On December 3, 2019, hours after NASA spotted Vikram lander of Chandrayaan 2 on lunar surface, it was revealed that the findings were first observed by an Indian techie and space enthusiast Subramanian. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team released the first mosaic (acquired September 17) of the site on September 26 and many people downloaded the mosaic to search for signs of the Vikram lander.

Among them was Shanmuga Subramanian who 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. The NASA team in its image also credited Subramanian for the findings.

READ | ISRO shares first findings from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter's payload CLASS

What is Chandrayaan 2?

Chandrayaan-2's rocket lifted off at the scheduled time of 2:43 PM on July 22, 2019. The average distance between the Earth and the Moon is 3, 84, 000 km. Vikram lander was scheduled to land on the Moon on the 48th day of the mission on September 7, but had a hard landing. On September 7, Vikram Lander which had separated from Chandrayaan 2's orbiter on September 2, while descending onto the lunar surface lost contact with ISRO Mission Control Centre. If the landing would have been successful, India would have been the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to do so. Chandrayaan 2's lunar orbiter is currently revolving around the moon taking high-resolution pictures.

READ | Chandrayaan 2: Before NASA, Indian techie spotted lost Vikram lander on lunar surface

READ | Chandrayaan 2: NASA releases pictures of Vikram's landing site