Chennai, Sep 9 (Agency) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)on Saturday released the images of Chandrayaan-3 lander taken by theDual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (DFSAR) instrument onboardthe Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter. The images were captured by the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter on Septembersix, 2023.A SAR instrument transmits microwaves in a given frequency band andreceives the same, scattered from the surface.Being a radar, it can image even without solar illumination. It can provideboth the distance and physical characteristics of the target features. Hence, SAR is utilized for remote sensing of the Earth and other celestial bodies. DFSAR is a key scientific instrument onboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter.It employs microwaves in L-and S-band bands. This state-of-the-artinstrument is offering the best resolution polarimetric images currentlyon any planetary mission.The long radar wavelength enables DFSAR to explore lunar subsurfacefeatures down to a few metres. DFSAR has been beaming high-qualitydata by imaging the lunar surface, for the last four years, with main focuson the lunar polar science. “High Resolution Polarimetric mode of Chandryaan-2 DFSAR imagedVikram Lander on September 6, 2023.
The Lander appears prominentdue to high intensity even bounce scattering which is characteristic ofvertically oriented human-made structures. Pre-Landing image is alsojuxtaposed to confirm the detection of Lander”, ISRO said.Chandryaan-2 was launched in 2019 and and the mission fractionallyfell short of target after the Lander crashlanded on the moon’s surfaceand lost contact with the ground stations. However, the next mission Chandryaaan-3 launched this year turnedout to be a phenomenal success when the Lander made a soft landingon the South Polar region of the moon, making India only the fourth Nation to land on the moon and the first country to explore the darkside of the moon–the south pole. ISRO said at present the lander and rover are in sleep mode. Awaitingtheir awakening around September 22, 2023.Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrateend-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface.