Vikram, the moon lander, successfully separated from Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter at 1315 Hrs IST on Monday. The Vikram Lander is currently located in an orbit of 119 km x 127 km. The Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter continues to orbit the Moon in its existing orbit.
The health of the Orbiter and Lander is being monitored from the Mission Operations Complex at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network in Bengaluru with support from Indian Deep Space Network antennas at Bylalu, near Bengaluru. All the systems of Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter and Lander are healthy.
The next manoeuver is scheduled for Tuesday between 0845-0945 hrs IST, says an update from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Vikram (with rover Pragyan inside) is expected to touch down on the lunar surface on September 7 between 1:30am and 2:30am. ISRO had earlier said.
PTI adds
The Vikram Moon Lander, named after the father of India’s space mission Vikram Sarabhai on his birth centenary year, is scheduled to touch the lunar surface near its south pole on September 7 at about 1.55 am. A rover called ‘Pragyaan’ would roll out from the lander to carry out various tests on the lunar soil, especially detecting the presence of water and other minerals there.