NASA releases the image of India’s Vikram lander appearing small against the moon’s textured landscape

India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission has garnered significant attention and admiration from the nation’s population of over a billion, particularly following the successful landing of its Vikram lander near the lunar south pole on August 23.

This achievement made India the first country to achieve a successful soft landing near the moon’s south pole, celebrated worldwide. Recently, a NASA spacecraft in lunar orbit captured a striking top-down view of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander.

Vikram made its landing on August 23, and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) passed over the landing site just four days later, capturing a distant view using its LRO Camera.

The released NASA image shows the lander as a small presence against the moon’s textured landscape. However, the image underscores the significance of the mission. The landing site is marked by NASA with a white square, and within it, one can discern Vikram as a dark shadow surrounded by lighter material, created by the rocket plume’s interaction with lunar soil during landing.

Chandrayaan-3 successfully achieved its primary objective by demonstrating a safe and gentle lunar landing. This achievement contrasts with the mission’s predecessor, Chandrayaan-2, which experienced a crash during its landing attempt in 2019, an event captured by LRO, which documented the debris field. In contrast, the new image shows the Chandrayaan-3 lander intact.

Meanwhile, the rover Pragyan, part of Chandrayaan-3, has completed its exploration activities on the lunar surface, marking the end of a ten-day mission.

“Chandrayaan-3 Mission: The Rover completed its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into Sleep mode. APXS and LIBS payloads are turned off. Data from these payloads is transmitted to the Earth via the Lander,” announced India’s space agency.

ISRO’s upcoming focus is on reactivating the mission when the next lunar day commences on September 22. The rover’s battery is fully charged, and its solar panels are positioned to receive sunlight.

The ISRO expressed hope for a successful reawakening to continue with the mission’s assignments, but noted that if unsuccessful, the rover would remain on the moon as India’s lunar ambassador.