Bengaluru: The 'Vikram' lander is lying on the lunar surface in a single piece and unbroken. But it has tilted following the hard landing.
Nonetheless, efforts are on to re-establish link with the probe, an ISRO official said on Monday. An ISRO team is on the job at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, he added.
Another ISRO official, however, said chances of restoring the link with the lander were bleak since system functionality was a prerequisite for achieving that.
"Unless and until everything is intact (in the lander), it is very difficult to re-establish contact. Chances are less. Only if it had had a soft-landing, and if all systems were functional, then only communication could have been be restored. Things are bleak as of now."
A part of the problem is that operational flexibility is not there and since the lander is already on the lunar surface, it cannot be reoriented. A vital aspect is positioning of antennas and these have to be pointed towards either the ground station or the orbiter, he said.
"Such an operation is extremely difficult," he said, adding, "We will have to keep our fingers crossed." The official said, however, the lander's generating power was not an issue since it had solar panels and encompasses internal batteries as well, which are not used much.
