'Vikram' lander tilts after hard hit, but unbroken: ISRO

Bengaluru, Sep 9
The 'Vikram' lander lies on the lunar surface as a single piece, unbroken and it is in a tilted position following a hard landing while efforts to re-establish link with the probe were on, an ISRO official said on Monday.
Vikram, which encases rover 'Pragyan' went out of contact during its final descent, when it was just 2.1 km above the lunar surface, in the early hours of September 7.
"The lander is there (on lunar surface) as a single piece, not broken into pieces. It's in a tilted position," an ISRO official associated with the mission claimed. Though the lander hit the surface hard while landing, it was still very close to the scheduled touchdown site as per the images sent by the orbiter's onboard camera, he said.
"We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander," the official said. "An ISRO team is the on the job at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)," he added.
Chandrayaan-2 comprises an orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan).
Vikram carried three payloads--Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive Ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA), Chandra's Surface Thermo-physical Experiment (ChaSTE) and Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA).    PTI