In a significant update, an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official associated with the Chandrayaan-2 moon mission said that the Vikram Lander is in a “single piece”.

Talking to news agency PTI, the space agency official said that the “moon lander has not broken though its position is tilted”.

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“It has probably hard-landed on Lunar surface as per the thermal images sent by the on-board camera of Chandrayaan’s orbiter,” ISRO Official said.

Not losing hope, the ISRO continued to make all-out efforts to establish a link with Chandrayaan-2’s ‘Vikram’ lander, now lying on the lunar surface after a hard-landing. Vikram, with rover ‘Pragyan’ housed inside it, hit the lunar surface after communication with the ground-stations was lost during its final descent, just 2.1 km above the lunar surface, in the early hours of Saturday.

ISRO official added that the agency is making every effort possible to re-established link with the Vikram lander. “At ISROTelemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) a dedicated team of ISRO scientists are on the job,” the official said.

Earlier on Sunday, ISRO chief K Sivan had announced that the lunar lander of Chandrayaan 2 had been located on the moon’s surface and that the ground station was working to establish contact.

“We’ve found the location of lander Vikram on lunar surface and orbiter has clicked a thermal image of the lander. But there is no communication yet. We are trying to have contact. It will be communicated soon,” Sivan said.

India’s ambitious lunar mission faltered in the last leg on Saturday as Vikram lander lost its connection with the ISRO and left the nation anxious. At the time connection with Vikram was lost, the lander was just 2km above the moon’s surface.

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second moon mission spacecraft, lifted off successfully onboard the “Bahubali” rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh on July 22.

The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprised three segments – the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), ‘Vikram’ (1,471 kg, four payloads) and rover ‘Pragyan’ (27 kg, two payloads).

After five earth-bound orbit raising activities, Chandrayaan-2 was inserted into lunar orbit. The lander Vikram carrying the rover Pragyan separated from Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft on September 2, in its journey towards the moon.

The prestigious moon mission was aimed at making India the fourth nation in the world to land and ride on the moon after the US, Russia and China.