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India locates lander lost on final approach to moon
 [DAWN] The lander module from India's moon mission was located on the lunar surface on Sunday, one day after it lost contact with the space station, and efforts are underway to try to establish contact with it, the head of the nation's space agency said.The Press Trust of India news agency cited Indian Space and Research Organisation chairman K. Sivan as saying cameras from the moon mission's orbiter had located the lander. "It must have been a hard landing," PTI quoted Sivan as saying. ISRO officials could not be reached for comment. According to Times of India, the lander was designed to function for one lunar day, equivalent to 14 Earth days, and with the "right orientation" it can still generate power and recharge batteries with solar panels. "But it looks less and less probable, progressively," said one official associated with the mission who wished to remain anonymous. Another top official explained that since it may not have landed on its four legs, the lander may not have the "right orientation" to recharge batteries and may not be able to reestablish a link. The space agency said it lost touch with the Vikram lunar lander on Saturday as it made its final approach to the moon's south pole to deploy a rover to search for signs of water. Posted by: Fred 2019-09-09 |
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