Chennai, Sep 9 , The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday released the images of Chandrayaan-3 lander taken by the Dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.
The images were captured by the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter on September six, 2023.
A SAR instrument transmits microwaves in a given frequency band and receives the same, scattered from the surface. Being a radar, it can image even without solar illumination. It can provide both the distance and physical characteristics of the target features. Hence, SAR is utilized for remote sensing of the Earth and other celestial bodies.
DFSAR is a key scientific instrument onboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. It employs microwaves in L-and S-band bands. This state-of-the-art instrument is offering the best resolution polarimetric images currently
on any planetary mission.
The long radar wavelength enables DFSAR to explore lunar subsurface features down to a few metres. DFSAR has been beaming high-quality data by imaging the lunar surface, for the last four years, with main focus on the lunar polar science.
“High Resolution Polarimetric mode of Chandryaan-2 DFSAR imaged Vikram Lander on September 6, 2023. The Lander appears prominent due to high intensity even bounce scattering which is characteristic of vertically oriented human-made structures. Pre-Landing image is also juxtaposed to confirm the detection of Lander”, ISRO said.
Chandryaan-2 was launched in 2019 and and the mission fractionally fell short of target after the Lander crashlanded on the moon’s surface and lost contact with the ground stations.
However, the next mission Chandryaaan-3 launched this year turned out to be a phenomenal success when the Lander made a soft landing on the South Polar region of the moon, making India only the fourth Nation to land on the moon and the first country to explore the dark side of the moon–the south pole.
ISRO said at present the lander and rover are in sleep mode. Awaiting their awakening around September 22, 2023. Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.
