NASA specialists did not find traces of the Vikram spacecraft, which made a hard landing in the vicinity of the south pole of our natural satellite.
The Indian Space Agency (ISRO) has lost contact with the Vikram (Valor) lander of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. This misfortune happened on September 7, 2019, a few minutes before he touched the surface of the Moon between the craters Manzini C and Simpelius N. They are located about 600 kilometers from the south pole of our natural satellite.
The head of the agency burst into tears of grief - he was reassured by the Prime Minister of India himself, who was watching the process. He hugged and said: nothing, nothing, my friend, it happens, no one is immune from failure …
The Indian Prime Minister did not scold the head of his space agency - on the contrary, he took a nap.
Soon, the Indians reported that they saw Vikram in infrared images taken from the device remaining in orbit. He allegedly made a hard landing, but did not crash to smithereens. And with it stands slightly bending over in the place in which it was supposed to land on the moon.
However, ISRO specialists did not show the images they referred to. And they failed to establish a connection with the device.
An attempt to find Vikram - dead or alive - was undertaken by the Americans, who photographed the landing area from their Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) space station. On September 17, 2019, she flew there. Recently, pictures of a vast area, stretching for 150 kilometers, were made public. And they gave rise to an almost mystical mystery: NASA reported that the Indian apparatus was not found. No traces are visible. Vikram seemed to have disappeared from the surface of the moon. How it was stolen.
The site of the proposed landing of the Indian apparatus.
Promotional video:
Top view of the landing site: Vikram out of sight? Top view of the landing site: Vikram out of sight?
Enthusiasts, of course, will continue to look for the device among the craters - they love such "entertainment". NASA will also make a second attempt in early October, when the LRO - Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) - will again be above the Vikram landing site.
If the Indian lander had not disappeared, then a small 27-kilogram lunar rover "Pragyan" ("Wisdom") would have left it - it would have gone to explore the craters at the south pole of the moon, at the bottom of which, presumably, there is water - in the form of ice, of course … Alas, to check this, as they say, on the spot will not work yet.
Orbital and landing module of the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
Indian lunar rover.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY