Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander on moon, confirms NASA

NASA posted a before and after image that highlights changes to the surface and the impact point of Chandrayaan 2's lander, Vikram.  

New Delhi: US space agency NASA, today (November 3), said its satellite orbiting the moon has found debris of Chandrayaan 2's lander, Vikram, on the lunar surface. NASA has released images of its impact site on the moon, where the spacecraft had lost communication moments before making a soft landing on the far side of the lunar surface.

NASA posted images "clicked by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that show the site of impact and the associated debris field."

In a statement, NASA said the "debris first located by Shanmuga Subramanian about 750 meters northwest of the main crash site and was a single bright pixel identification in that first mosaic."

"Shanmuga Subramanian contacted the LRO project with a positive identification of debris. After receiving this tip, the LROC team confirmed the identification by comparing before and after images. When the images for the first mosaic were acquired the impact point was poorly illuminated and thus not easily identifiable. Two subsequent image sequences were acquired on October 14 and 15, and November 11. The LROC team scoured the surrounding area in these new mosaics and found the impact site and associated debris field," the statement added.