India loses communication with lunar lander

India’s space agency said it lost touch Saturday with its Vikram lunar lander after about 2 kilometers from the surface of the moon. The fate of the lander – whether it crashed or landed – wasn’t immediately known.

Section:Gallery

Fri., Sept. 6, 2019

Trajectory graphics of India’s unmanned spacecraft are displayed on a big screen at a media center set up at Indian Space Research Organization’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bangalore, India, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. India’s space agency says it has lost communication with its unmanned spacecraft that was set to touch down Saturday on the moon’s south pole.

Aijaz Rahi Associated Press
Indian Space Research Organization employees react after an announcement by organizations’s chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan at its Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bangalore, India, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. India’s space agency said it lost touch Saturday with its Vikram lunar lander as it aimed to land on the south pole of the moon and deploy a rover to search for signs of water.

Aijaz Rahi Associated Press
Indian Space Research Organization employees react as they wait for an announcement by organizations’s chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan at its Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bangalore, India, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. India’s space agency says it has lost communication with its unmanned spacecraft that was set to touch down Saturday on the moon’s south pole.

Aijaz Rahi Associated Press
Indian Space Research Organization employees react as they listen to an announcement by organizations’s chief Kailasavadivoo Sivan at its Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bangalore, India, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019. India’s space agency says it has lost communication with its unmanned landing module which was to make a touchdown on the moon’s south pole Saturday.

Aijaz Rahi Associated Press
The moon is seen behind a tracking antenna at Indian Space Research Organization’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network facility in Bangalore, India, late Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. The planned touchdown of the landing module of India’s unmanned moon mission known as Chandrayaan-2 on the moon’s south polar region is scheduled early Saturday.

Aijaz Rahi Associated Press