Chandrayaan-2: ISRO releases first illuminated photo of moon taken by IIRS payload

Bengaluru, OCt 18: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which has started spectroscopic studies on the surface of the Moon, released the first illuminated images of the lunar surface which were acquired by Chandrayaan-2's Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS) payload, that is circling the Moon. The IIRS is designed to measure reflected sunlight from the lunar surface in narrow and contiguous spectral channels.

The ISRO released the images on its Twitter account showing part of the lunar farside in the northern hemisphere.

Taking to Twitter, ISRO worte,"See the first illuminated image of the lunar surface acquired by #Chandrayaan2's IIRS payload. IIRS is designed to measure reflected sunlight from the lunar surface in narrow and contiguous spectral channels.''

The image, released by the ISRO, also shows Sommmerfield crater floor, the sunlit inner rim of crater Kirkwood, Stebbins crater floor, fresh crater Ejecta in Sommerfield crater floor and Stebbins crater central peak.

The image shows that the Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS) is able to measure the variations in the reflected solar radiation and identify various features like crater central peaks, crater floors, the inner-rims of the craters, and very fresh reworked ejecta associated with small craterlets within the crater floor of a large crater.

Meanhwile, Vikram lander, one of three components of the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, which was scheduled to soft land on the moon stopped transmitting 2.1 km from the surface and is believed to have crash landed.

India had expected to make space history with the Rs. 1,000-crore Chandrayaan-2 mission by being the first country to land near the South Pole of the Moon.