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Even if the Indians were hoping that NASA would have another glimpse of the Vikram lander before the start of the lunar night, the US space agency said the LG was perhaps not in the field of view of the camera on board his orbiter.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), orbiting the moon for 10 years, flew over the Vikram landing site on Tuesday. "The lunar reconnaissance lunar camera (LROC) acquired images around the targeted landing site, but the exact location of the landing gear was not known, so this one might not be in the field of vision of the camera, "said Joshua A Handal, public affairs manager, global science division, NASA, in an email.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) lost contact with the lander of the country's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, just minutes before landing on the moon on Sept. 7.
See also Chandrayaan 2: "Do not lose heart," Prime Minister Modi says after Vikram Lander's loss of contact during the descent
The LROC team will compare the images taken on September 17 with previous images of the site to determine if the LG is visible. The results of the overview will be made public after validation, analysis and review.
At present, it is the lunar twilight on the site where Vikram was to make a soft landing on Sept. 7. This means that the sun is lower in the horizon and that the raised features project long shadows.
"LRO flew over the Vikram landing site area on September 17, while the local lunar hour was near dusk; large shadows covered a large part of the region … [the lander] may be in the shade …, "said Handal.
Experts agree that the odds that the LRO will spot the LG during the current overflight are low. "It will be difficult to find the undercarriage during the current overflight because the sun's angle will be low. And, if the landing gear is close to any terrain, it will hide in its shadow. The LRO will have a better chance of getting a good image of the LG on its next flyby, "said Jatan Mehta, former chief scientist of TeamIndus, a privately held company based in Bengaluru that aims to Send a lander on the moon.
The NASA orbiter will fly over the landing site again on 14 October, which would be close to lunar noon and the lighting conditions would favor better images.
"LRO will fly over the landing site on October 14, when lighting conditions will be more favorable," said Handal.
At that time, any hope of communication with the LG would be lost as the lunar night, which will begin on September 21, will result in temperatures that will drop to -180 degrees in the region. "Once the lunar night has begun, there is absolutely no possibility of restoring communication. The LG had to perform all the experiments during the lunar day and was not designed to withstand low temperatures, "said Mehta.
An overflight of the NASA orbiter above the landing site does not help to restore communication; it helps scientists understand what's wrong.
ISRO had also taken thermal images of the LG just a day after landing, which have not yet been released.
"The images taken by his own orbiter and those of NASA will help ISRO rebuild what happened on 7 September. The ISRO has telemetry data, which contains information on speed, altitude, thrust, etc., about 2.1 km from the moon's surface. The orientation of the undercarriage, whether it has been slightly damaged or parts broken, its location and deviation from the intended course will indicate to scientists whether the undercarriage has reached the lunar surface at high speed, whether he has spun or what has happened in the last moments, "said Dr. Nirupam Roy, an assistant professor of physics at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
NASA's orbiter data will also be based on images from the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter.
"The LRO is also in polar orbit, like the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter, which means it will be able to see the landing site every 14 days for two or three days, depending on the field of view of the aircraft. the camera. The LRO data will prove useful as they will allow the landing site to be seen closer to noon. The Chandrayaan 2, meanwhile, was launched to get to the landing site at the beginning of the lunar day, which means that whenever it will fly over the landing site, it will be the Dawn or dusk when there will be longer shadows, "Roy said.
First publication:
September 18, 2019 23:53 PM IST
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