Bengaluru: Nearly three weeks after releasing the first set of images of the earth captured by Chandrayaan-2 satellite, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) yesterday released the first picture of Moon.
Chandrayaan-2, which is India’s second moon mission, is currently in the lunar orbit. The satellite’s LI4 Camera captured the moon surface from an altitude of about 2,650 km, and Mare Orientale basin and Apollo craters are visible in the picture.
Mare Orientale, which is shaped like a target ring bull’s eye, is located on the extreme western edge of the Moon. It said to be over 3 billion years old. Apollo crater is found on the southern hemisphere of the far side and is 538 km diameter double-ringed impact crater.
ISRO shared the image on its Twitter handle. “Take a look at the first Moon image captured by #Chandrayaan2 #VikramLander taken at a height of about 2,650 km from Lunar surface on August 21, 2019. Mare Orientale basin and Apollo craters are identified in the picture,” ISRO tweeted.
ISRO on Wednesday had performed second lunar-bound orbit maneuver for Chandrayaan-2. The spacecraft parameters are reportedly normal. There will be three more orbit manoeuvres before the lander’s separation from the Orbiter on 2 September. It will eventually soft land in the south polar region of the Moon on 7 September.