A lost lunar lander has been found. After the crash during the landing attempt in September, the location of the debris of India's Vikram moon lander was not immediately visible. Now NASA has identified an area where the debris of the lunar lander can be found.
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NASA finds the debris from India's lunar lander Vikram. |
An amateur astronomer tipped off the team of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) after it had made the images of the area available online.
Shanmuga Subramanian contacted the LRO project with a positive identification of the debris', according to a statement of 2 December.
The first images, made in September, were poorly photographed. This made it difficult to identify the debris. On images made in October and November the debris was more clearly visible.
NASA was able to confirm the spot where the Vikram crashed on the moon by comparing photos from before and after the crash.
The first images, made in September, were poorly photographed. This made it difficult to identify the debris. On images made in October and November the debris was more clearly visible.
NASA was able to confirm the spot where the Vikram crashed on the moon by comparing photos from before and after the crash.
The debris first seen by Subramanian was 750 meters northwest of the crash site. The LRO team later found twenty other pieces of debris and several impact sites.