Chandrayaan 2: NASA to share before and after images of Vikram's landing site

File image of Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will share before and after images of the location where Chandrayaan 2's 'Vikram' lander made a hard-landing, The New York Times has reported.

"NASA will share any before and after flyover imagery of the area around the targeted Chandrayaan-2 Vikram Lander landing site to support analysis by the Indian Space Research Organization," NASA's spokesman told the newspaper.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has so far not released any images of Vikram's landing site even. Besides Chandrayaan 2's own orbiter, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is also revolving around Moon. NASA’s orbiter is scheduled to pass over the region on September 17.

The images of the site could help ISRO with its analysis.

India's bid to become only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon had suffered a setback in the wee hours of September 7. ISRO had abruptly lost contact with Chandrayaan 2's landing module when Vikram was just 2.1 km above the lunar surface.

Also read | ISRO continues attempts to establish contact with Vikram lander: Here’s how

However, on September 8, ISRO chairman K Sivan said that Vikram had been located on the lunar surface and that it must have been a hard-landing.

A day later, reports quoting an unnamed ISRO official said that the hard-landing was "very close to the planned (touch-down) site as per the images sent by the on-board camera of the orbiter".

“The lander is there as a single piece, not broken into pieces. It is in a tilted position," the official associated with the mission claimed.

The space agency has said that “all possible efforts are being made to establish communication” with the Vikram lander.