Chandrayaan-2: All about Nasa's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter that found debris of Vikram Lander

New Delhi, Dec 03: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has found the debris of Chandrayaan 2's lander Vikram on the surface of the Moon. The images show the Vikram Lander impact point and associated debris field.

The first mosaic images of the site were acquired by LAO on September 17 and released on Sep 26.

Among many such aircraft, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which recently marked a decade studying moon is unique.

The primary mission of the LRO was to measure the entire lunar surface to create a high-resolution 3-D map of the Moon with ~50-centimeter resolution images to aid in the planning of future robotic and crewed missions.

Launched in June 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter embarked on a science mission to carry out experiments and study the Moon.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has enabled numerous groundbreaking discoveries, creating a new picture of the moon as a dynamic and complex body.

The orbiter has captured images of the Apollo 11 mission, the first human being to walk on the Moon.

Some of the LRO exploration

The orbiter found the presence of significant subsurface hydrogen deposits in regions cold enough for water ice to survive.

Measured several volatiles (e.g., CO, H2, and Hg) in the gaseous cloud released from Cabeus by the LCROSS impact.

It created the first cosmic ray albedo proton map of the Moon.

The orbiter has been of use in providing high-resolution images of robotic and human exploration sites.