So close: All you need to know about the Vikram Lander

Bengaluru, Sep 07: Chandrayaan 2, India's unmanned spacecraft lost communication, before it was due to land on the moon.

Chandrayaan 2 comprises three segments-the Orbiter, Vikram and Pragyan. Vikram separated from the Orbiter on September 2.

The Vikram Lander is named after Vikram A Sarabhai the father of the Indian Space Research Programme. The lander carried the Pragyan, which was to land in the high plain between two creators at a latitude of around 70 degrees south of the moon.

Pragyan, which means wisdom in Sanskrit is a six-wheeled robotic vehicle. It was to collect information on the lunar surface.

The rover can travel up to half a kilometre. Both the Vikram Lander and Pragyan have a life of one lunar day, which is equal to 14 earth days.

So far only three nations have successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon- the United States of America, the Soviet Union and China.

The Vikram Lander was supposed to make a smooth soft-landing, but 13 minutes after the lander began its descent, the failure took place. The failure took place 13 minutes after the descent began hoping to reduce its speed from 6,048 km per hour to 7 km per hour. The reduction to 7 kilometres or lower was required for a soft landing.

The lander fired its four thrusters in the direction of its movement. Vikram travelled nearly 548 kilometres in a parabolic path before it lost contact. The lander was supposed to hover over the surface to ascertain whether there was a safe place to land.

A normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 kilometres, ISRO said after the Vikram Lander lost communication with the ground station.

ISRO said, "Vikram Lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 kilometres. Subsequently, communication from the lander to the ground stations was lost. Data is being analysed."