Marking a year of the Chandrayaan-2 integrated module having been inserted into lunar orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released its initial set of technical and mission data.&nbsp;

The agency goes on to state that though the soft-landing was unsuccessful, the orbiter had completed 4400 orbits around the moon and all eight on-board instruments are performing well. While the orbiter was meant to stay operational for one year, ISRO says that it has enough fuel for remaining in orbit for seven years.

The Indian space agency has said that the spacecraft is healthy and performance of its subsystems are normal. The orbiter is being maintained in 100 +/- 25 km polar orbit (circling the moon along the poles) with periodic orbit maintenance (OM) manoeuvres. When any satellite or spacecraft is in space in a certain orbit it swings wildly on a certain plane and moves a few hundred metres or even a few kilometres away from the intended path. That's when commands are issued to fire it's on-board liquid-fuelles Motors to steer it back on course.&nbsp;

So far, 17 such OMs were carried out since achieving 100 km lunar orbit on September 24, 2019. The statement from ISRO also adds that the eight scientific payloads on-board are being used optimally. Simply put, it means that the illumination on the lunar surface would vary throughout the year, depending on the sun’s position. Hence, ISRO is making use of multiple equipments to capture images and conduct studies when conventional imaging cameras cannot function owing to poor lighting. &nbsp;

According to ISRO, over the last year, the Terrain Mapping Camera 2(TMC 2) has been able to acquire images of nearly 4 million sq. km&nbsp;of lunar surface area&nbsp;during 220 orbits. TMC -2 is said to be the highest resolution camera that is currently in orbit around the moon. With a resolution of 30cm, it will be able to distinguish between objects that are 30cm apart.&nbsp;

It is besides the orbiter high-resolution camera (OHRC) has captured images of about 1056sq km area, this data can be used to select landing sites for future missions. The images from OHRC can also help scientists understand the boulders in a particular region and help in interpreting the geological features and their history.

While some of the salient results have been shared on the occasion of the anniversary of lunar orbit insertion, ISRO has stated that the public data release is planned for later this year, after validation by formal peer review. The agency believes that&nbsp;

India's second moon-probe Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22nd last year and had attempted a moon-landing on September 7th. However, the much-anticipated landing happened to end up in a crash landing, after ISRO lost contact with the Vikram lander, barely at an altitude of 2.1km from the lunar surface.&nbsp;

The mission was launched with the objectives of obtaining detailed information on the topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and the lunar exosphere.

India’s first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 is credited with finding extensive presence of surface water and the indication of sub-surface polar water-ice deposits. India is also working on Chandrayaan-3, the country's third moon probe, and it is expected to be launched sometime in 2021 or later.&nbsp;

Marking a year of the Chandrayaan-2 integrated module having been inserted into lunar orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released its initial set of technical and mission data.

Marking a year of the Chandrayaan-2 integrated module having been inserted into lunar orbit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released its initial set of technical and mission data. The agency goes on to state that though the soft-landing was unsuccessful, the orbiter had completed 4400 orbits around the moon and all eight on-board instruments are performing well. While the orbiter was meant to stay operational for one year, ISRO says that it has enough fuel for remaining in orbit for seven years. The Indian space agency has said that the spacecraft is healthy and performance of its subsystems are normal. The orbiter is being maintained in 100 +/- 25 km polar orbit (circling the moon along the poles) with periodic orbit maintenance (OM) manoeuvres. When any satellite or spacecraft is in space in a certain orbit it swings wildly on a certain plane and moves a few hundred metres or even a few kilometres away from the intended path. That's when commands are issued to fire it's on-board liquid-fuelles Motors to steer it back on course. So far, 17 such OMs were carried out since achieving 100 km lunar orbit on September 24, 2019. The statement from ISRO also adds that the eight scientific payloads on-board are being used optimally. Simply put, it means that the illumination on the lunar surface would vary throughout the year, depending on the sun’s position. Hence, ISRO is making use of multiple equipments to capture images and conduct studies when conventional imaging cameras cannot function owing to poor lighting. According to ISRO, over the last year, the Terrain Mapping Camera 2(TMC 2) has been able to acquire images of nearly 4 million sq. km of lunar surface area during 220 orbits. TMC -2 is said to be the highest resolution camera that is currently in orbit around the moon. With a resolution of 30cm, it will be able to distinguish between objects that are 30cm apart. It is besides the orbiter high-resolution camera (OHRC) has captured images of about 1056sq km area, this data can be used to select landing sites for future missions. The images from OHRC can also help scientists understand the boulders in a particular region and help in interpreting the geological features and their history. While some of the salient results have been shared on the occasion of the anniversary of lunar orbit insertion, ISRO has stated that the public data release is planned for later this year, after validation by formal peer review. The agency believes that India's second moon-probe Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22nd last year and had attempted a moon-landing on September 7th. However, the much-anticipated landing happened to end up in a crash landing, after ISRO lost contact with the Vikram lander, barely at an altitude of 2.1km from the lunar surface. The mission was launched with the objectives of obtaining detailed information on the topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and the lunar exosphere. India’s first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 is credited with finding extensive presence of surface water and the indication of sub-surface polar water-ice deposits. India is also working on Chandrayaan-3, the country's third moon probe, and it is expected to be launched sometime in 2021 or later.

A year in orbit, Chandrayaan-2 clicks millions of sq km of lunar surface

Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based techie and space enthusiast who was credited by NASA, late last year for spotting the debris of India's Chandrayaan 2 moon probe, Vikram lander, which crash landed near the south pole of the moon, has come up with his latest find.

This time he claims to have possibly spotted the skeleton of the Vikram lander and also the pragyaan rover that might have rolled out onto the lunar surface. The claim is based on a similar method he had employed for the earlier find, by studying and comparing open source moon images shared by NASA. After having written to both ISRO and NASA, he is enthusiastically hoping for the best.&nbsp;

Shanmuga Subramanian told WION that his earlier find was of the debris (perhaps a part of the payload that the vikram lander was carrying on-board) from the crash landing, as also acknowledged by NASA.

But this time around, he's likely to have located the outer shell of the Vikram lander and also the pragyan rover which has rolled out onto the lunar surface. He has also tweeted out images of his possible find and mailed them to ISRO and NASA, who would be the best authorities to judge and confirm the possible find. &nbsp;

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Chandrayaan2's Pragyan "ROVER" intact on Moon's surface &amp; has rolled out few metres from the skeleton Vikram lander whose payloads got disintegrated due to rough landing | More details in below tweets <a href="https://twitter.com/isro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@isro</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chandrayaan2?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Chandrayaan2</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VikramLander?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VikramLander</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PragyanRover?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PragyanRover</a> (1/4) <a href="https://t.co/iKSHntsK1f">pic.twitter.com/iKSHntsK1f</a>
— Shan (Shanmuga Subramanian) (@Ramanean) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ramanean/status/1289405848821800965?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2020</a></blockquote>
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When asked about what led him to embark on this tedious search again, he says he was spending the recent weeks trying to locate other debris on the moon such as the first-ever probe sent by the erstwhile Soviet union.&nbsp;

"Using an open-source NASA software I've been looking at various regions in-depth. The area was around where the earlier debris was spotted was also of particular interest" he told WION.&nbsp;

He says that the most interesting aspect was a few images clicked by NASA in January, that were made publicly available in May.&nbsp;

"This image was more illuminated due to the then prevailing lighting conditions in that region and enabled me to spot much more. Generally that region is poorly lit. My latest find ( possibly vikram lander and pragyan rover) is around 500-700 meters towards the right of &nbsp;the debris that I located last year" he says.&nbsp;

The image he has tweeted out has markings that point to the objects that are suspected to be the vikram lander, the pragyan rover and also the possible tracks of the rover.&nbsp;

Leaving it upto ISRO to confirm, Subramanian suspects that the wheeled rover might have eventually rolled out from the lander after the crash landing.

"May be it was pre-programmed to roll out or maybe the lander received ISRO's command to roll our the rover. The lander and rover may have been communicating &nbsp;back and forth. But, perhaps this could have been a case of one-way communication. While the lander and rover could communicate, &nbsp;it was perhaps not able to relay the signals back to Earth after the harsh landing" he says.&nbsp;

WION also got the receipt of Subramanian's e-mail confirmed from ISRO chairman Dr.K.Sivan. "He has sent us the image and we have shared it with our experts for analysis" Dr. Sivan told WION.&nbsp;

India's second moon-probe Chandrayaan 2 was launched on July 22nd last year and had attempted a moon-landing on September 7th. However, the much anticipated landing happened to end-up in a crash landing, after ISRO lost contact with the vikram lander, barely at an altitude of 2.1km from the lunar surface.

India is also working on chandrayaan 3, the country's thrid moon probe, and it is expected to be launched sometime in 2021.&nbsp;

Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based techie and space enthusiast who was credited by NASA, late last year for spotting the debris of India's Chandrayaan 2 moon probe, Vikram lander, which crash landed near the south pole of the moon, has come up with his latest find.

Shanmuga Subramanian, a Chennai-based techie and space enthusiast who was credited by NASA, late last year for spotting the debris of India's Chandrayaan 2 moon probe, Vikram lander, which crash landed near the south pole of the moon, has come up with his latest find. This time he claims to have possibly spotted the skeleton of the Vikram lander and also the pragyaan rover that might have rolled out onto the lunar surface. The claim is based on a similar method he had employed for the earlier find, by studying and comparing open source moon images shared by NASA. After having written to both ISRO and NASA, he is enthusiastically hoping for the best. Shanmuga Subramanian told WION that his earlier find was of the debris (perhaps a part of the payload that the vikram lander was carrying on-board) from the crash landing, as also acknowledged by NASA. But this time around, he's likely to have located the outer shell of the Vikram lander and also the pragyan rover which has rolled out onto the lunar surface. He has also tweeted out images of his possible find and mailed them to ISRO and NASA, who would be the best authorities to judge and confirm the possible find. Chandrayaan2's Pragyan "ROVER" intact on Moon's surface & has rolled out few metres from the skeleton Vikram lander whose payloads got disintegrated due to rough landing | More details in below tweets @isro #Chandrayaan2 #VikramLander #PragyanRover (1/4) pic.twitter.com/iKSHntsK1f — Shan (Shanmuga Subramanian) (@Ramanean) August 1, 2020 × When asked about what led him to embark on this tedious search again, he says he was spending the recent weeks trying to locate other debris on the moon such as the first-ever probe sent by the erstwhile Soviet union. "Using an open-source NASA software I've been looking at various regions in-depth. The area was around where the earlier debris was spotted was also of particular interest" he told WION. He says that the most interesting aspect was a few images clicked by NASA in January, that were made publicly available in May. "This image was more illuminated due to the then prevailing lighting conditions in that region and enabled me to spot much more. Generally that region is poorly lit. My latest find ( possibly vikram lander and pragyan rover) is around 500-700 meters towards the right of the debris that I located last year" he says. The image he has tweeted out has markings that point to the objects that are suspected to be the vikram lander, the pragyan rover and also the possible tracks of the rover. Leaving it upto ISRO to confirm, Subramanian suspects that the wheeled rover might have eventually rolled out from the lander after the crash landing. "May be it was pre-programmed to roll out or maybe the lander received ISRO's command to roll our the rover. The lander and rover may have been communicating back and forth. But, perhaps this could have been a case of one-way communication. While the lander and rover could communicate, it was perhaps not able to relay the signals back to Earth after the harsh landing" he says. WION also got the receipt of Subramanian's e-mail confirmed from ISRO chairman Dr.K.Sivan. "He has sent us the image and we have shared it with our experts for analysis" Dr. Sivan told WION. India's second moon-probe Chandrayaan 2 was launched on July 22nd last year and had attempted a moon-landing on September 7th. However, the much anticipated landing happened to end-up in a crash landing, after ISRO lost contact with the vikram lander, barely at an altitude of 2.1km from the lunar surface. India is also working on chandrayaan 3, the country's thrid moon probe, and it is expected to be launched sometime in 2021.

Vikram lander and Pragyan rover spotted? Techie awaits ISRO, NASA nod

With the dawn of the new year, India's space research organization(ISRO) announced its ambitious new projects Chandrayaan 3 and Gaganyaan.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/new-lunar-mission-chandrayaan-3-to-launch-in-november-2020-isro-271367">Also Read:&nbsp;India to launch Chandrayaan-3 in November 2020, says&nbsp;ISRO chief K Sivan</a>

With Chandrayaan 3, India's space organisation will be making its second attempt to soft-land on the surface of the Moon, meanwhile, Gaganyaan will be India's first manned mission expected to take-off by 2022.&nbsp;

WION spoke exclusively to ISRO chief K. Sivan on what lessons the space organization has learnt from Chandrayaan 2.

"The rough braking phase worked good high velocity in fine braking phase which led to hard landing of Chandrayaan 2,"&nbsp;Sivan told WION, adding, "We are expecting Chandrayaan 3 to be a success."

"We are rectifying errors of Chandrayaan 2," the ISRO chief said. "We are confident of having a better understanding before Chandrayaan 3," the ISRO chief said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/isro-releases-first-illuminated-image-of-lunar-surface-taken-by-chandrayaan-2-256582">Also Read:&nbsp;ISRO releases first illuminated image of lunar surface taken by Chandrayaan 2</a>

"The human space flight centre will be built at a cost of Rs 2,700 crore,"&nbsp;Sivan informed, while stating that four astronauts were undergoing training in Russia for Gaganyaan. After Russia, the astronauts will undergo training in India, Sivan said.

Sivan said the human space flight centre will be a permanent centre for all future manned missions.

With the dawn of the new year, India's space research organization(ISRO) announced its ambitious new projects Chandrayaan 3 and Gaganyaan. Also Read: India to launch Chandrayaan-3 in November 2020, says ISRO chief K Sivan With Chandrayaan 3, India's space organisation will be making its second attempt to soft-land on the surface of the Moon, meanwhile, Gaganyaan will be India's first manned mission expected to take-off by 2022.

With the dawn of the new year, India's space research organization(ISRO) announced its ambitious new projects Chandrayaan 3 and Gaganyaan. Also Read: India to launch Chandrayaan-3 in November 2020, says ISRO chief K Sivan With Chandrayaan 3, India's space organisation will be making its second attempt to soft-land on the surface of the Moon, meanwhile, Gaganyaan will be India's first manned mission expected to take-off by 2022. WION spoke exclusively to ISRO chief K. Sivan on what lessons the space organization has learnt from Chandrayaan 2. "The rough braking phase worked good high velocity in fine braking phase which led to hard landing of Chandrayaan 2," Sivan told WION, adding, "We are expecting Chandrayaan 3 to be a success." "We are rectifying errors of Chandrayaan 2," the ISRO chief said. "We are confident of having a better understanding before Chandrayaan 3," the ISRO chief said. Also Read: ISRO releases first illuminated image of lunar surface taken by Chandrayaan 2 "The human space flight centre will be built at a cost of Rs 2,700 crore," Sivan informed, while stating that four astronauts were undergoing training in Russia for Gaganyaan. After Russia, the astronauts will undergo training in India, Sivan said. Sivan said the human space flight centre will be a permanent centre for all future manned missions.

We expect Chandrayaan-3 to be a success: ISRO chief K Sivan to WION

2014. I was in grad school at that time and will never forget seeing a demeaning cartoon in the New York Times making fun of India’s Mangalyaan robotic probe into orbit around Mars. The illustration portrayed that India was nowhere close to the elite space club. &nbsp;

Sardonic Much?&nbsp;

Fast forward to 2019. I ask my nieces and a few other high school students about the Vikram Lander and the moon. These kids are quite well-informed and were aware of Chandrayaan 2. But when I asked them why they thought this was significant, I was baffled at the unclarity and weak responses I got. It was quite evident that the importance of space exploration was not at all ‘a thing’ for them. &nbsp;

Since its inception in 1969, ISRO has significantly evolved and has come into the elite space club. Yet, it is not as popular as the USA’s NASA or Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Why? Well, ISRO was first established after India gained independence. In terms of funding, the government had to justify why spending would be allotted to ISRO versus those in poverty. And for these reasons, ISRO focused on missions that were developmental in nature.

Things like weather forecasting and communication satellites. By doing this on lower budgets, ISRO is one of the most cost-effective space industries on the planet. But now that India has entered the elite space club, it is high time that the people of India- especially the youth- understand the significance and importance of space exploration. To do this, ISRO must focus on the following things. &nbsp;

Marketing &nbsp;

When NASA was founded, the US space program was determined to differentiate itself from the USSR. It would instead be an ‘open program’ in which facts and data would flow freely between the agency and the public. For that, an aggressive public relations team was built. The aim? Not just releasing information but also explaining astronomy, rockets and complicated physics to the lay person clearly and accurately. NASA’s PR created items that addressed reporters needs along with background material. They also produced broadcasts and held media symposiums. Every mission was explained before the launch and reported with text and visuals. An example? Before Apollo 11’s launch, NASA’s public affairs office gave journalists an entire binder with detailed diagrams of the spacesuit, the command module and even oxygen tanks. By doing this in a consistent manner, NASA not only helped the USA enter the elite space club but also sold space education to the masses. &nbsp;

In the same manner, ISRO should consider doing this. Chandrayaan2 has put Indian space exploration on the global radar. ISRO not only launched satellites but also has several cool unique initiatives that engage the youth of the country. The latest student satellite was launched in 2019 itself. ISRO should take up NASA’s approach and aggressively push for more information, statistics and details to get out to the public. It is not just enough to put it on their website. Press releases can be held along with symposiums explaining launches to the masses. In these public relations events and materials, ISRO should also actively engage with the youth. Scientists and engineers should visit schools more often to try and engage youth with space exploration and how they can get involved. &nbsp;

Private Partnerships &nbsp;

Earlier this year, the Central Government approved a commercial enterprise- NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)- under India’s Department of Space as an effort to build ISRO-private sector relationships and to expand ISRO commercialisation as well. NSIL helps with technology transfer between ISRP and private players along with promoting space-based products and spin-off technologies. While ISRO currently is and should remain government-funded and managed, getting the private sector to take some of the burdens of space exploration will not diminish ISRO’s reputation. In contrast, it will bolster it with more funding, more ideas and people and more cutting edge technology. With the increased partnership with private players, ISRO can focus on things that will help it grow as an organisation itself and also grow mainstream with the Indian masses. This includes human space flight, space exploration and developing larger and more cutting edge rockets. &nbsp;

Diplomacy &nbsp;

Another thing that ISRO must focus on at the earliest is making deals with foreign markets. This can both be a tool for diplomacy, as well as, bringing in revenue for further missions. With that being said, India needs to increase its number of missions annually if ISRO wants to remain in the same league as the elite space players. Working on space exploration with other countries would not just be great for diplomacy. A great move happened just last week with India launching the CARTOSAT along with American satellites in the same mission. Collaborating more with the global commercial space market will also help keep competitors like China at bay. &nbsp;

ISRO should be proud of itself and citizens should be proud of how ISRO has propelled India's global respect. But think about this. Despite not maximising its potential [yet] in marketing, outreach, private partnerships and foreign collaboration, ISRO STILL ranks in the top five global space players. Now, how can India go from ‘within the top five’ to number 1'? Marketing will educate the masses to the importance of every mission. Youth, in particular, need to be engaged. Private partnerships will not only bring in more innovation and revenue, but will also help ISRO focus on more advanced missions like human space exploration. Finally, collaborating with foreign space players will both increase ISRO productivity and work as a great diplomacy tool. This is the need of the hour for ISRO. This is because there are more space actors than ever before; both government and commercial players. If ISRO does not act quickly, India’s elite status can slide away as quickly as it has risen. &nbsp;

&nbsp;(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

2014. I was in grad school at that time and will never forget seeing a demeaning cartoon in the New York Times making fun of India’s Mangalyaan robotic probe into orbit around Mars.

2014. I was in grad school at that time and will never forget seeing a demeaning cartoon in the New York Times making fun of India’s Mangalyaan robotic probe into orbit around Mars. The illustration portrayed that India was nowhere close to the elite space club. Sardonic Much? Fast forward to 2019. I ask my nieces and a few other high school students about the Vikram Lander and the moon. These kids are quite well-informed and were aware of Chandrayaan 2. But when I asked them why they thought this was significant, I was baffled at the unclarity and weak responses I got. It was quite evident that the importance of space exploration was not at all ‘a thing’ for them. Since its inception in 1969, ISRO has significantly evolved and has come into the elite space club. Yet, it is not as popular as the USA’s NASA or Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Why? Well, ISRO was first established after India gained independence. In terms of funding, the government had to justify why spending would be allotted to ISRO versus those in poverty. And for these reasons, ISRO focused on missions that were developmental in nature. Things like weather forecasting and communication satellites. By doing this on lower budgets, ISRO is one of the most cost-effective space industries on the planet. But now that India has entered the elite space club, it is high time that the people of India- especially the youth- understand the significance and importance of space exploration. To do this, ISRO must focus on the following things. Marketing When NASA was founded, the US space program was determined to differentiate itself from the USSR. It would instead be an ‘open program’ in which facts and data would flow freely between the agency and the public. For that, an aggressive public relations team was built. The aim? Not just releasing information but also explaining astronomy, rockets and complicated physics to the lay person clearly and accurately. NASA’s PR created items that addressed reporters needs along with background material. They also produced broadcasts and held media symposiums. Every mission was explained before the launch and reported with text and visuals. An example? Before Apollo 11’s launch, NASA’s public affairs office gave journalists an entire binder with detailed diagrams of the spacesuit, the command module and even oxygen tanks. By doing this in a consistent manner, NASA not only helped the USA enter the elite space club but also sold space education to the masses. In the same manner, ISRO should consider doing this. Chandrayaan2 has put Indian space exploration on the global radar. ISRO not only launched satellites but also has several cool unique initiatives that engage the youth of the country. The latest student satellite was launched in 2019 itself. ISRO should take up NASA’s approach and aggressively push for more information, statistics and details to get out to the public. It is not just enough to put it on their website. Press releases can be held along with symposiums explaining launches to the masses. In these public relations events and materials, ISRO should also actively engage with the youth. Scientists and engineers should visit schools more often to try and engage youth with space exploration and how they can get involved. Private Partnerships Earlier this year, the Central Government approved a commercial enterprise- NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)- under India’s Department of Space as an effort to build ISRO-private sector relationships and to expand ISRO commercialisation as well. NSIL helps with technology transfer between ISRP and private players along with promoting space-based products and spin-off technologies. While ISRO currently is and should remain government-funded and managed, getting the private sector to take some of the burdens of space exploration will not diminish ISRO’s reputation. In contrast, it will bolster it with more funding, more ideas and people and more cutting edge technology. With the increased partnership with private players, ISRO can focus on things that will help it grow as an organisation itself and also grow mainstream with the Indian masses. This includes human space flight, space exploration and developing larger and more cutting edge rockets. Diplomacy Another thing that ISRO must focus on at the earliest is making deals with foreign markets. This can both be a tool for diplomacy, as well as, bringing in revenue for further missions. With that being said, India needs to increase its number of missions annually if ISRO wants to remain in the same league as the elite space players. Working on space exploration with other countries would not just be great for diplomacy. A great move happened just last week with India launching the CARTOSAT along with American satellites in the same mission. Collaborating more with the global commercial space market will also help keep competitors like China at bay. ISRO should be proud of itself and citizens should be proud of how ISRO has propelled India's global respect. But think about this. Despite not maximising its potential [yet] in marketing, outreach, private partnerships and foreign collaboration, ISRO STILL ranks in the top five global space players. Now, how can India go from ‘within the top five’ to number 1'? Marketing will educate the masses to the importance of every mission. Youth, in particular, need to be engaged. Private partnerships will not only bring in more innovation and revenue, but will also help ISRO focus on more advanced missions like human space exploration. Finally, collaborating with foreign space players will both increase ISRO productivity and work as a great diplomacy tool. This is the need of the hour for ISRO. This is because there are more space actors than ever before; both government and commercial players. If ISRO does not act quickly, India’s elite status can slide away as quickly as it has risen. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

How ISRO can be the number one player in the game

A Chennai-based amateur astronomer spent 8-10 hours a day to analyse moon's images which later helped NASA in locating ISRO's Vikram lander.&nbsp;

NASA early on Tuesday said that it has found the debris of <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/chandrayaan-2-nasa-satellite-finds-indias-vikram-moon-lander-releases-images-of-impact-site-265811">Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander </a>with the help of its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). NASA further said that Shanmuga Subramanian contacted the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team with a "positive sign" of the lander's debris. The LROC team compared moon's images before and after Vikram lost contact which helped them to locate the lander.&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/vikram-landar-dound-by-nasa-chennai-engineer-helpd-detect-the-debris-265957/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

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The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chandrayaan2?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Chandrayaan2</a> Vikram lander has been found by our <a href="https://twitter.com/NASAMoon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NASAMoon</a> mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. See the first mosaic of the impact site <a href="https://t.co/GA3JspCNuh">https://t.co/GA3JspCNuh</a> <a href="https://t.co/jaW5a63sAf">pic.twitter.com/jaW5a63sAf</a>
— NASA (@NASA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1201597561720725506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Subramanian tweeted on Tuesday morning that he received a mail from NASA which acknoweledged his help to find out the lander.

The Vikram lander was scheduled to land on Moon on September 7 but ISRO lost contact with lander minutes before the touchdown.&nbsp;

Subramanian said that he used to analyse images released by NASA's LROC to compare moon's earlier images with the ones after Vikram had lost contact. &nbsp;"I was spending something 8-10 hours each day for four to five hours on that. I stopped my research after I sent the tweet because I knew that this might be the probable debris," he said.&nbsp;

He then shared his results with NASA on October 3.&nbsp;

Subramanian is delighted with NASA's reponse which recognized his efforts.&nbsp;

Earlier on Tuesday morning, NASA confirmed that its moon mission Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has found the Vikram lander.

India's ambitious lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July and intended to soft-land on Moon's south pole. The mission was on course for a successful soft-landing when ISRO lost contact with Vikram lander in the last moment.&nbsp;

(with inputs from ANI) 
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A Chennai-based amateur astronomer spent 8-10 hours a day to analyse moon's images which later helped NASA in locating ISRO's Vikram lander. NASA early on Tuesday said that it has found the debris of Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander with the help of its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

A Chennai-based amateur astronomer spent 8-10 hours a day to analyse moon's images which later helped NASA in locating ISRO's Vikram lander. NASA early on Tuesday said that it has found the debris of Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander with the help of its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). NASA further said that Shanmuga Subramanian contacted the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team with a "positive sign" of the lander's debris. The LROC team compared moon's images before and after Vikram lost contact which helped them to locate the lander. The #Chandrayaan2 Vikram lander has been found by our @NASAMoon mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. See the first mosaic of the impact site https://t.co/GA3JspCNuh pic.twitter.com/jaW5a63sAf — NASA (@NASA) December 2, 2019 × Subramanian tweeted on Tuesday morning that he received a mail from NASA which acknoweledged his help to find out the lander. The Vikram lander was scheduled to land on Moon on September 7 but ISRO lost contact with lander minutes before the touchdown. Subramanian said that he used to analyse images released by NASA's LROC to compare moon's earlier images with the ones after Vikram had lost contact. "I was spending something 8-10 hours each day for four to five hours on that. I stopped my research after I sent the tweet because I knew that this might be the probable debris," he said. He then shared his results with NASA on October 3. Subramanian is delighted with NASA's reponse which recognized his efforts. Earlier on Tuesday morning, NASA confirmed that its moon mission Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has found the Vikram lander. India's ambitious lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July and intended to soft-land on Moon's south pole. The mission was on course for a successful soft-landing when ISRO lost contact with Vikram lander in the last moment. (with inputs from ANI)

Meet Chennai's astronomer, who helped NASA in detecting ISRO's Vikram lander