10 ASTRONOMY • DECEMBER 2019
QUANTUM GRAVITY
On September 6, controllers
at the Indian Space Research
Organisation’s (ISRO) facility in
Bengaluru, India, watched tensely as
the Vikram lander approached the
Moon’s surface. The nearly 3,260-
pound (1,477 kilograms) lander was
about to accomplish India’s first soft
landing on the Moon, touching down
closer to the lunar south pole than any
other country.
But at an altitude of about 1.3 miles
(2.1 kilometers), as the craft neared
the end of its automated soft-landing
sequence, communications went out.
The lander could not be raised, leading
mission controllers to believe Vikram
had slammed into the lunar surfacefaster and harder than expected,
possibly bringing its part in the
Chandrayaan-2 mission to an end.
On September 9, ISRO reported in a
tweet that the lander had been spotted
by the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, but com-
munication could not be established.
According to ISRO officials, the lander
was seen near the targeted landing site,
apparently in one piece, albeit tilted.
The extent of the damage to the lander
and its 57-pound (26 kg) Pragyan rover,
stored inside, were not known.
ISRO attempted for 14 days to
establish contact with the lander. But
on September 20, Vikram’s landing site
passed into the cold, dark lunar night,
which the lander was not designed towithstand. There had been no signal
from Vikram.
Although the Vikram lander and
its contents remain silent, the pair
constitutes only a small part of the larger
Chandrayaan-2 mission, whose orbiter
will continue to study the south polar
region of the Moon and will remain
operational for seven years, according
to an ISRO statement.
“Space is hard,” NASA tweeted to the
Indian space agency September 7. “We
commend @ISRO’s attempt to land their
#Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon’s
South Pole. You have inspired us with
your journey and look forward to future
opportunities to explore our solar system
together.” — ALISON KLESMAN, H.R.M.INDIA’S FIRST LUNAR LANDER CRASHES
Meant for a soft landing, Vikram slammed into
the Moon moments after going silent.
GROUND ZERO. India’s Vikram lander was
slated to touch down on a highland plain at
the lunar south pole, near the Manzinus C
and Simpelius N craters (yellow dot).
Communications cut off between the craft
and its controllers shortly before its
scheduled landing. NASA/GSFC/ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITYSimpelius MSimpelius ASimpelius GSimpelius N
Manzinus C
Manzinus DManzinus EManzinus GManzinus N