New Delhi: NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has recently captured a striking image of the Chandrayaan-3 lander, India’s third lunar exploration programme. Chandrayaan-3 became the first spacecraft to make a successful landing near the lunar south pole. This image was taken by LRO on August 27, just four days after the historic landing on the moon.
The American space agency shared this remarkable image on the social media platform X, stating, “LRO spacecraft recently imaged the Chandrayaan-3 lander on the Moon’s surface.”
According to NASA, the LRO’s camera obtained an oblique view at a 42-degree slew angle of the lander, providing a unique perspective. The bright halo surrounding the lander is a result of the rocket plume’s interaction with the fine-grained lunar regolith (soil).
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, as part of the Science Mission Directorate headquartered in Washington, D.C.
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