<p class="title">Just hours to go before darkness descends on the lunar surface, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has reportedly captured images of Vikram's landing site.</p>.<p class="title">However, the American space agency has not confirmed whether its Orbiter could actually spot the Chandrayaan-2 mission's Lander on the South Polar region of the moon. All communication links with Vikram was lost barely 350 metres before it hard-landed in the early hours of September 7.</p>.<p class="title">NASA is now analysing the landing site images with previous visuals of the same area. This could establish whether the Lander is visible or not. Hours before nightfall, the setting sun can cast shadows on the lunar surface.</p>.<p class="title">A top NASA scientist was quoted by cnet.com as saying that the landing site was close to the lunar dusk when the LRO passed over the spot. Large parts of the area were already in shadow, according to the report.</p>.<p class="title">For the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), frantically looking for a way to understand what really happened to Vikram, the onset of lunar night would spell doom for the Lander and Rover experiments. Originally, the Lander and Rover were both to stay alive for an entire lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days.</p>.<p class="title">Its communication with the Chandrayaan Orbiter dead, the Lander's solar panels could not be switched on. None of the signals sent from the Orbiter were received.</p>.<p class="title">With lunar night setting in, temperatures could dip to 200 degrees Celsius, so low that the electronics onboard would get permanently damaged. Before the launch, Isro had indicated that there was no way the systems could be restored 14 nights later, when the sun would rise again.<br /><br /><strong>Orbiter payloads powered</strong></p>.<p class="title">Meanwhile, Isro informed that all payloads of the Orbiter are now powered on. “Initial trials for the Orbiter payloads are completed successfully. Performance of all orbiter payloads is satisfactory,” the space agency said in a tweet on Thursday.</p>.<p class="title">The Orbiter's life was extended to 7.5 years, way beyond the originally planned one year. It had adequate fuel to stay alive that long, capturing high resolution imagery of the lunar surface. “Orbiter continues to perform scheduled science experiments to complete satisfaction,” said Isro.</p>.<p class="title">On the communication loss with the Lander Vikram, the space agency informed that a national level committee comprising academicians and Isro experts were analysing the cause.</p>
<p class="title">Just hours to go before darkness descends on the lunar surface, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has reportedly captured images of Vikram's landing site.</p>.<p class="title">However, the American space agency has not confirmed whether its Orbiter could actually spot the Chandrayaan-2 mission's Lander on the South Polar region of the moon. All communication links with Vikram was lost barely 350 metres before it hard-landed in the early hours of September 7.</p>.<p class="title">NASA is now analysing the landing site images with previous visuals of the same area. This could establish whether the Lander is visible or not. Hours before nightfall, the setting sun can cast shadows on the lunar surface.</p>.<p class="title">A top NASA scientist was quoted by cnet.com as saying that the landing site was close to the lunar dusk when the LRO passed over the spot. Large parts of the area were already in shadow, according to the report.</p>.<p class="title">For the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), frantically looking for a way to understand what really happened to Vikram, the onset of lunar night would spell doom for the Lander and Rover experiments. Originally, the Lander and Rover were both to stay alive for an entire lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days.</p>.<p class="title">Its communication with the Chandrayaan Orbiter dead, the Lander's solar panels could not be switched on. None of the signals sent from the Orbiter were received.</p>.<p class="title">With lunar night setting in, temperatures could dip to 200 degrees Celsius, so low that the electronics onboard would get permanently damaged. Before the launch, Isro had indicated that there was no way the systems could be restored 14 nights later, when the sun would rise again.<br /><br /><strong>Orbiter payloads powered</strong></p>.<p class="title">Meanwhile, Isro informed that all payloads of the Orbiter are now powered on. “Initial trials for the Orbiter payloads are completed successfully. Performance of all orbiter payloads is satisfactory,” the space agency said in a tweet on Thursday.</p>.<p class="title">The Orbiter's life was extended to 7.5 years, way beyond the originally planned one year. It had adequate fuel to stay alive that long, capturing high resolution imagery of the lunar surface. “Orbiter continues to perform scheduled science experiments to complete satisfaction,” said Isro.</p>.<p class="title">On the communication loss with the Lander Vikram, the space agency informed that a national level committee comprising academicians and Isro experts were analysing the cause.</p>
