Chandrayaan-2 captures first images of moon

New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday released the first visuals of the moon captured by Chandrayaan-2 from a distance of 2,650 km from the lunar surface. The photograph was taken on Wednesday.

The ISRO in a tweet identified two landmarks on the moon, Mare Orientale basin and Apollo crater.

"Take a look at the first Moon image captured by #Chandrayaan2 #VikramLander taken at a height of about 2650 km from Lunar surface on August 21, 2019.

Mare Orientale basin and Apollo craters are identified in the picture (sic)," the SIRo said in the tweet. The space agency had on August 4 released a first set of images of the earth captured by Chandrayaan-2.

Chandrayaan-2, launched on July 22 by GSLV MkIII-M1 vehicle, had entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory on August 14. According to ISRO, Chandrayaan 2 — India's second lunar expedition — will shed light on a completely unexplored section of the Moon — its South Polar region.

ISRO had on Wednesday performed the second lunar-bound orbit manoeuvre for Chandrayaan-2 and said all spacecraft parameters are normal.

There will be three more orbit manoeuvres before the lander's separation from the Orbiter on September 2 and its eventual soft landing in the south polar region of the moon, planned on September 7.

The spacecraft will explore a region of the moon where no mission has ever set foot. It consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover together referred to as "composite body".