Moon lander separation successful, says ISRO

Bengaluru: ISRO on Monday successfully carried out the separation of lander ‘Vikram’ from Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, the space agency said.

During the one-hour separation window starting 12.45 pm, ‘Vikram’ was separated at 1.15 pm, the Indian Space Research Organisation said.

“Yes, the separation was successfully carried out,” an ISRO official told PTI.

After the separation, two deorbit manoeuvres of the lander would be carried out to prepare for its landing in the south polar region of the moon.

The Vikram Moon Lander, named after the father of India’s space mission Vikram Sarabhai on his birth centenary year, is scheduled to touch the lunar surface near its south pole on September 7 at about 1.55 am.

A rover called ‘Pragyaan’ would roll out from the lander to carry out various tests on the lunar soil, especially detecting the presence of water and other minerals there.