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NASA’s LRO Observes Chandrayaan-3 Landing Site

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NASA

Sep 05, 2023
Image Article
A photo of the surface of Earth's Moon. The surface looks like the top of a cake, with small craters like bubbles in the batter across the image. A white square in the center surrounds the Chandrayaan-3 Moon lander, a tiny dark dot surrounded by white.
NASA’s LRO – the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – spacecraft imaged the Chandrayaan-3 landing site on the Moon’s surface.

NASA’s LRO – the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – spacecraft imaged the Chandrayaan-3 landing site on the Moon’s surface.

The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023. The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is located about 600 kilometers from the Moon’s South Pole.

A photo of the surface of Earth's Moon. The surface looks like the top of a cake, with small craters like bubbles in the batter across the image. The Chandrayaan-3 Moon lander is visible in the center, a tiny dark spot surrounded by white.
Chandrayaan-3 lander is in the center of the image, its dark shadow is visible against the bright halo surrounding the vehicle. The image is 1,738 meters wide; frame No. M1447750764LR. Credits: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University

The LROC (short for LRO Camera) acquired an oblique view (42-degree slew angle) of the lander four days later. The bright halo around the vehicle resulted from the rocket plume interacting with the fine-grained regolith (soil).

Visit the ISRO gallery of Chandrayaan-3 images.

LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge about the Moon. Arizona State University manages and operates LROC.

Banner Image: Chandrayaan-3 lander is in the center of the image, its dark shadow is visible against the bright halo surrounding the vehicle. The image is 1,738 meters wide, frame No. M1447750764LR. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University.

Media contacts:

Nancy N. Jones NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

Rob Gutro NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.