Chandrayaan-2 captures image of moon showing craters

Chandrayaan-2 has captured an image of the moon showing craters such as Jackson, Mach, Korolev and Mitra, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Monday.

The lunar surface was photographed by Terrain Mapping Camera-2 on August 23 at an altitude of about 4,375 kilometres.

"Lunar surface imaged by Terrain Mapping Camera-2 of Chandrayaan-2 on August 23 at an altitude of about 4375 km showing craters such as Jackson, Mach, Korolev and Mitra (In the name of Prof. Sisir Kumar Mitra)," ISRO tweeted.

On August 22, ISRO had put out a tweet, saying Chandrayaan-2 had captured the first image of the moon, two days after entering the lunar orbit.

ISRO chief K Sivan had on August 20 announced Chandrayaan-2's successful completion of lunar orbit insertion while stating that the mission would carry out a soft landing on the moon on September 7.

Chandrayaan-2 will explore a region of the moon where no mission has ever set foot. The spacecraft consists of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover together referred to as "composite body".

The spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia, and China to carry out a soft landing on the moon.

After revolving around the Earth's orbit for nearly 23 days, the craft began its journey to the moon on August 14.

The mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22.