Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar mission has begun its studies. The orbiter, which is supposed to measure the wavelengths to tell properties of any lunar terrain is loaded with eight payloads. Now, one of the spectrometers of Chandrayaan 2 has finally snapped its first illuminated image of the moon.
According to ISRO, the image was clicked by the Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS), a piece of equipment that measures reflected sunlight and emitted part of the moonlight from the lunar surface. The snapped image also identifies some prominent lunar craters, namely Kirkwood, Stebbins and Sommerfield.
After releasing the image on Friday morning, ISRO said that it’s just a routine thing and the image shows that the sensor is working as it should be.
A report by Hindustan Times suggests that the IIRS has picked up some variations in spectral radiance which exist mostly because of the mineralogical compositional variations on the lunar surface or due to the effect of space weathering.
The Chandrayaan 2 lunar probe is currently in a nearly 100 x 100 kilometre orbit and is expected to work for another 7 years.