NASA's lunar orbiter could not find India's lost moon lander

Vikram, where are you? the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Loses Touch with Lunar Lander on September 6, while he was heading towards the surface of the moon. Since he lost contact, ISRO has embarked on a sort of rescue mission, listening to the sky in the hope of hearing about what was to be the first spaceship to explore the south pole of the moon. As part of this mission, NASA stepped in to help, sending the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on the supposed landing site to join the search September 17th. But the news is dark. There is no trace of Vikram.

Early reports suggested that the LRO was unable to locate the LG because of the intense shadows as twilight descended on the moon. With the disappearance of sunlight and the absence of the official location of the downed lander, the official word is: wait until we have another look.

NASA said Friday in a press release that the LRO camera had conducted a scan of the targeted landing area, scanning about 150 kilometers. The LRO team could not locate the undercarriage.

This is not, however, bad news for the Indian lunar exploration robot. The next time LRO goes to the Vikram landing site in October, the sun will shine. This should give the NASA research team a chance to see more clearly – and hopefully our first idea of ​​Vikram's fate.