Chandrayaan-3: ISRO Shares New Image of Vikram Lander Resting on Moon's Surface | Check Pic

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday dropped another image of the Chandrayaan-3 lander Vikram and the interesting part is that the picture was taken by an instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. The image was clicked on September 6 with the help of a Dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.

“Here is an image of the Chandrayaan-3 Lander taken by the Dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter on September 6, 2023,” the Indian space agency shared on microblogging platform X.

Explaining details of this high-end instrument, responsible for this new image, ISRO stated, “SAR instrument transmits microwaves in a given frequency band and receives the same, scattered from the surface. Being a radar, it can image even without solar illumination. It can provide both the distance and physical characteristics of the target features. Hence, SAR is utilized for remote sensing of the Earth and other celestial bodies.”

“DFSAR is a key scientific instrument onboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. It employs microwaves in L- and S-band bands. This state-of-the-art instrument offers the best-resolution polarimetric images on any planetary mission. The long radar wavelength enables DFSAR to explore lunar subsurface features down to a few metres. DFSAR has been beaming high-quality data by imaging the lunar surface, for the last 4 years, with a main focus on the lunar polar science,” ISRO said in its release.

Recently, NASA released some stunning images of Chandrayaan-3 lander ‘Vikram’ on the lunar surface, which was captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.

In the image, the Chandrayaan-3 lander is in the centre and its dark shadow is visible against the bright halo surrounding the Vikram.

Last week, ISRO announced that Chandryaan-3’s Vikram lander was put into sleep mode.

India on August 23 scripted history as ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making India the first country in the world to land on the southern pole of the Moon.

Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the decision to name the spot where the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander made a soft landing as ‘Shiv Shakti Point’ and the site where the Chandrayaan-2 lander crash-landed on the Moon’s surface in 2019 would be known as “Tiranga Point”.