The Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) onboard the Chandrayaan-2 has sent back high resolution images from the moon’s surface that it captured at 4.38 pm IST on September 5.
“Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) onboard Chandrayaan-2 provides very high spatial resolution images of the Moon. This operates in the visible Panchromatic band (450-800 nm). With a spatial resolution of 25 cm from a 100 km orbit and a swath of 3 km, it provides the sharpest images ever from a lunar orbiter platform. OHRC is an important new tool for lunar topographic studies of select regions,” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, while releasing the images.
#ISRO
— ISRO (@isro) October 4, 2019
Have a look at the images taken by #Chandrayaan2's Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC).
For more images please visit https://t.co/YBjRO1kTcL pic.twitter.com/K4INnWKbaM
The photos captured parts of the Boguslawsky E crater on the moon, that is 14 kilometres in diameter and three kilometres in depth. The crater lies in the south polar region of the moon, where Chandrayaan-2’s lander ‘Vikram’ was supposed to make a soft landing on September 7 before ISRO lost contact with it.
The OHRC captured many other images of the lunar surface, its boulders and craters as well. These were captured from an altitude of 100 kilometres from the lunar surface.
Earlier, ISRO had announced that while it would stop attempting to reach Vikram, which had a 14-day mission life, the orbiter would continue to be in the lunar orbit. The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, which has eight payloads onboard, is planned to be in the moon’s orbit for a year, which is open to extension.
"The orbiter was initially planned for a year, but with the optimum mission planning, there is every possibility that it will last for another seven and a half years benefiting us for science experiments," ISRO chief K Sivan had said.
Meanwhile, a national committee of academics is analysing the reason why communication was lost with Vikram lander.