<p>The much-awaited first image of the lunar surface shot by the Chandrayaan-2 Moon Mission is just out. The black and white image identifies two spots on the lunar surface: the Mare Orientale basic and Apollo craters.</p>.<p>The first Moon shot was captured by the Mission's Vikram Lander at a height of about 2,650 km from the lunar surface on August 21, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) informed in a Thursday evening tweet. </p>.<p>Space buffs raved about the dramatic jump in resolution quality of the first image captured by Chandrayaan-2 compared to the ones sent back by Chandrayaan-1 on November 4, 2008. That image was shot from a distance of 3.11 lakh km from the Moon. </p>.<p>Identified on the latest surface image, the Mare Orientale is a lunar mare located on the western border of the near side and the far side of the Moon. This land feature is tough to spot from an Earth-bound perspective. </p>.<p><br />Images from spacecraft missions in the past have revealed it to be one of the most striking large scale lunar features, resembling a target ring bullseye. Also seen on the first picture are the enormous Apollo impact craters, located in the Southern hemisphere on the Moon's far side. <br /><br />Although Isro gave the picture credit to the Lander, Vikram, more such images are expected to be relayed back to Earth from the Orbiter component of Chandrayaan-2. It has onboard the Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2), a miniature version of the TMC first used onboard the Chandrayaan-1 Mission. <br /><br />The TMC-2's primary objective is to map the lunar surface in the panchromatic spectral band (0.5-0.8 microns) with a high spatial resolution of five metres. It will cover a swath of 20 km from an orbit of 100 km lunar polar orbit. <br /><br />The data collected by TMC 2, Isro informs, will give clues about the Moon's evolution and help the space agency prepare 3D maps of the lunar surface.</p>
<p>The much-awaited first image of the lunar surface shot by the Chandrayaan-2 Moon Mission is just out. The black and white image identifies two spots on the lunar surface: the Mare Orientale basic and Apollo craters.</p>.<p>The first Moon shot was captured by the Mission's Vikram Lander at a height of about 2,650 km from the lunar surface on August 21, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) informed in a Thursday evening tweet. </p>.<p>Space buffs raved about the dramatic jump in resolution quality of the first image captured by Chandrayaan-2 compared to the ones sent back by Chandrayaan-1 on November 4, 2008. That image was shot from a distance of 3.11 lakh km from the Moon. </p>.<p>Identified on the latest surface image, the Mare Orientale is a lunar mare located on the western border of the near side and the far side of the Moon. This land feature is tough to spot from an Earth-bound perspective. </p>.<p><br />Images from spacecraft missions in the past have revealed it to be one of the most striking large scale lunar features, resembling a target ring bullseye. Also seen on the first picture are the enormous Apollo impact craters, located in the Southern hemisphere on the Moon's far side. <br /><br />Although Isro gave the picture credit to the Lander, Vikram, more such images are expected to be relayed back to Earth from the Orbiter component of Chandrayaan-2. It has onboard the Terrain Mapping Camera-2 (TMC-2), a miniature version of the TMC first used onboard the Chandrayaan-1 Mission. <br /><br />The TMC-2's primary objective is to map the lunar surface in the panchromatic spectral band (0.5-0.8 microns) with a high spatial resolution of five metres. It will cover a swath of 20 km from an orbit of 100 km lunar polar orbit. <br /><br />The data collected by TMC 2, Isro informs, will give clues about the Moon's evolution and help the space agency prepare 3D maps of the lunar surface.</p>
