Description (with pictures) of successful (and failed) lunar landings - supplemented with numerous pictures of Lunar Surfaces, with Craters and all. Disclaimer and Credits All material (Text, Images, Graphics etc.) in these slides have been procured from publicly available sources of ISRO and other agencies, which includes ISRO partners. There are selected images from NASA and Wikipedia also, where relevant, also procured from freely available public resources, with attribution. Some images and text have been individually acknowledged. Others have been collectively credited through this Disclaimer page. The author makes no copyright claims on any material. They have been sorted, edited as relevant, collated, compiled and inserted to align them with the sequence of the slides, as deemed fit by the author. They have been posted with academic altruism in mind, for those interested in Astrophysics and Astronomy and related technology, like the author. There is no commercial or promotional motivation involved anywhere. The author is not an Astrophysicist or an Astronomer. The author does not work for ISRO, NASA or any tech company. The author is a nerd who loves technology, Astrophysics and Astronomy and who dabbles in related developments of ISRO, NASA etc. during his spare time, as an intellectual hobby. Thus, he satiates his academic appetite, learns in the process and wishes to share them with like-minded people. At the time of publication, all material has been updated and is deemed to be accurate. If any errors are detected by the reader(s) the author will be happy to be corrected. The responsibility for any errors are solely the author’s and not that of the parent organization(s). Here’s is wishing everyone a happy armchair space exploration on this occasion of New Year 2024! Updated as on 31 January 2024 JAXA being an ethical Space Agency disclosed the real reason why SLIM Lander could not communicate for 1st week after soft-landing on Moon. Picture released by JAXA A. SLIM lost one of its Engines during descent B. Because of the resultant asymmetric Thrust, SLIM landed on Lunar Surface upside down C. Resulting in its Solar Panels facing away from Sun (See the direction of shadows to determine relative position of Sun and Solar Panels)

1. LUNAR VIEWS – LANDING SITES –
POTENTIAL AND ACTUAL
ISRO
NASA
WIKIPEDIA
COMPILED BY SANJOY SANYAL

2. DISCLAIMER AND CREDITS
All material (Text, Images, Graphics etc.) in these slides have been procured from publicly available sources of ISRO and other
agencies, which includes ISRO partners. There are selected images from NASA and Wikipedia also, where relevant, also procured
from freely available public resources, with attribution. Some images and text have been individually acknowledged. Others have
been collectively credited through this Disclaimer page. The author makes no copyright claims on any material.
They have been sorted, edited as relevant, collated, compiled and inserted to align them with the sequence of the slides, as
deemed fit by the author. They have been posted with academic altruism in mind, for those interested in Astrophysics and
Astronomy and related technology, like the author. There is no commercial or promotional motivation involved anywhere.
The author is not an Astrophysicist or an Astronomer. The author does not work for ISRO, NASA or any tech company. The author
is a nerd who loves technology, Astrophysics and Astronomy and who dabbles in related developments of ISRO, NASA etc. during
his spare time, as an intellectual hobby. Thus, he satiates his academic appetite, learns in the process and wishes to share them
with like-minded people.
At the time of publication, all material has been updated and is deemed to be accurate. If any errors are detected by the
reader(s) the author will be happy to be corrected. The responsibility for any errors are solely the author’s and not that of the
parent organization(s).
Here’s is wishing everyone a happy armchair space exploration on this occasion of New Year 2024!

3. ISRO – CH-3 VIKRAM LANDING SITE
SHIV SHAKTI POINT

4. Pic: Vikram Lander
as captured by
OHRC on Ch-2
Orbiter
OHRC: Orbiter High
Resolution Camera
Objective: High-
resolution images of
Vikram Landing Site
Resolution: 0.32 m
FoV = 12 X 3 km
Altitude = 100 km
[Height of:
• Ch-2 Orbiter and
• Ch-3 Propulsion
Module]
VIKRAM LANDER ON MOON
Nominal Coordinates Actual Coordinates
69.367621⁰ S 69.373⁰ S
32.348126⁰ E 32.319⁰ E
A Chinese scientist has argued that actual Lunar
South Pole is between 85 and 90 deg South
Shiv Shakti Point

5. Pic: Vikram Lander on lunar surface taken by Pragyan
Rover Navcam at 1104 IST, 30 August 2023 from 15
meters away
Hop Experiment: On command, the Lander fired the
Engines autonomously, without Human intervention or
communication, using its on-board Computers, elevated
itself by about 40 cm and landed safely 30 – 40 cm away
• It was unplanned and a bonus Objective
• It indicated high degree of intelligence and
autonomy of its on-board computers
• It demonstrated Vikram had enough Fuel and Power
left after its primary mission objectives
• It indicated Vikram had a robust Guidance and
Navigation System – Accurately control its Attitude,
Thrust and Trajectory
• It indicated Vikram had a durable structure and
design – Withstood impact of Landing twice on a
rough and rocky terrain
This successful Hop Experiment and Kickstart could
have significant bearing on future Moon missions
• To bring back samples from the Moon
• Carrying Humans to the Moon
LANDER ON MOON

6. Pics: Ch-3 Vikram Lander on Lunar Surface as pictured by
Pragyan Rover on 30 August 2023 at 0735 hours IST
L. Pic is enlarged view of R. Pic
VIKRAM ON LUNAR SURFACE

7. CH-3 ROVER NAVCAM PICS
A 4-metre-diameter (13 ft) Crater, as photographed by
Navigation Camera onboard the Rover, 27 August 2023
Ch-3 Vikram Lander on lunar surface taken by
Pragyan Rover Navcam at 11:04 IST, 30 August
2023 from 15 meters away

8. ISRO – CH-2 IMPACT SITE
MANZINUS C – SIMPELIUS N

9. CH-2 VIKRAM LANDER CRASH
2 December 2019: Ch-2 Vikram Lander of ISRO was targeted for
a highland smooth plain about 600 km from South Pole
• Unfortunately, ISRO lost contact with Lander shortly before
the scheduled touchdown (7 Sep in India, 6 Sep in the US).
• Despite the loss, getting that close to the surface was an
amazing achievement
• Software glitch 2.1 km above Lunar Surface
• Crash Landed instead of Fine-Braking
Locating Crash Site
A. NASA LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera) team
acquired images of the site on 17 Sept 2019 and released the 1st
Image Mosaic on 26 Sept, and many people downloaded the
Mosaic to search for signs of Ch-2 Vikram Lander
B. When the 1st Image Mosaic was acquired, the impact point
was poorly illuminated and thus not easily identifiable
C. Shanmuga Subramanian contacted LRO project with a
positive identification of debris
D. After receiving this tip, LROC team confirmed the
identification by comparing Before and After Images

10. CH-2 LANDER IMPACT SITE
Pic: Ch-2 Vikram Impact Point and associated Debris
Field [Credit: NASA / Goddard / Arizona State Univ.]
Locating Crash Site
E. 2 subsequent Image Mosaics were acquired on 14-
15 Oct and 11 Nov 2019
• 11 Nov Mosaic had the best Pixel Scale (0.7 m) and
Lighting Conditions (72° Incidence Angle)
F. LROC team scoured the surrounding area in these
new Mosaics and found the Impact Site and wide
Debris Field
• Green Dots: Spacecraft Debris (confirmed or likely)
• Blue Dots: Disturbed Soil, likely where small bits of
Spacecraft churned up the Regolith
• ‘S’ = Debris found by Shanmuga Subramanian
• It is ~750 m NW of main crash site and was a
single bright Pixel in the 1st Mosaic (1.3 m Pixel
Scale; 84° Incidence Angle)

11. CH-2 LANDER IMPACT SITE
Pic: Before and After Images show Ch-2 Vikram Impact
Site – This image highlights changes to the surface
(Credit: NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University)
• Impact Point is near center of the image and stands
out due to the Dark Rays and Bright Outer Halo
• Note the dark streak and debris about 100 meters
to the South South-East of the Impact Point
• 3 largest pieces of debris are each 2 x 2 Pixels and
cast a 1-Pixel shadow
• This portion of the Narrow Angle Camera Mosaic
was made from images M1328074531L/R and
M1328081572L/R acquired on 11 November 2019

12. CH-2 LANDER IMPACT SITE
Pic: Changes to the surface are subtle and are more
easily seen in the After / Before Ratio Image (Image
Credit: NASA / Goddard / Arizona State University)
Coordinates of Crash Site
• Declination (Latitude) = - 70.881° S [Minus sign
indicates South]
• Right Ascension (Longitude) = 22.784° E
• 834 m elevation

13. MANZINUS – SIMPELIUS
Ch-2 Vikram Lander Planned Landing Site:
• Flat Highland (Green Circle)
• Between Craters:
• Manzinus C
• Simpelius N
Manzinus C: (Red Arrow)
• Declination = - 70.1⁰ South (0.781)
• Right Ascension = 22.1⁰ East (0.684)
• 25 Km Diameter
Simpelius N: (Blue Arrow)
• Declination = - 71.3⁰ South (0.419)
• Right Ascension = 24.3⁰ East (1.516)
• 8 Km Diameter
Ch-2 Lander Actual Impact Site:
• - 70.881° S: Near Simpelius N
• 22.784° E: Near Manzinus C
• 834 m elevation (near Manzinus C)
ISRO

14. COORDINATES – CH-2 LANDER IMPACT AND CRATERS
Manzinus C, 22.1
Simpelius N,
24.3
Impact Site,
22.784
21
21.5
22
22.5
23
23.5
24
24.5
Manzinus
C
Simpelius
N
Impact
Site
RIGHT ASCENSION - EAST
Manzinus C, -70.1
Simpelius N, -71.3
Impact Site, -
70.881
-71.4
-71.2
-71
-70.8
-70.6
-70.4
-70.2
-70
-69.8
-69.6
-69.4
Manzinus C
Simpelius N
Impact Site
DECLINATION - SOUTH
Pics: Coordinates of
Ch-2 Lander Impact
Site and those of
Craters Manzinus C
and Simpelius N have
been mapped on a
Radar Graph to give
an idea of the relative
distances of each

15. CH-2 LANDER IMPACT SITE CLOSER TO MANZINUS C
Manzinus C, 0.684
Simpelius N, 1.516
Impact Site, 0
Manzinus C, 0.781
Simpelius N, 0.419
Impact Site, 0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
Manzinus C
Simpelius N
Impact Site
DISTANCES FROM CRATERS
RA D
Pic: Coordinates of Ch-2 Lander
Impact Site and those of Craters
Manzinus C and Simpelius N have
been mapped on a Radar Graph to
give an idea of the relative
distances of each
It appears the Impact Site was
closer to Manzinus C Crater

16. CH-2 OHRC IMAGES
Pic: Region b/w Manzinus C and Simpelius N;
Taken on 2 March 2020 by Ch-2 Orbiter High
Resolution Camera (OHRC)
Manzinus C:
• Declination = - 70.1⁰ South
• Right Ascension = 22.1⁰ East
Scene Center 1: Upper Pic
• Declination = - 70.502⁰ South
• Right Ascension = 22.947⁰ East
Scene Center 2: Lower Pic
• Declination = - 70.588⁰ South
• Right Ascension = 22.933⁰ East
Ch 2 Lander Actual Impact Site: Near Scene 2
• Declination = - 70.881° S
• Right Ascension = 22.784° E
ISRO

17. BETWEEN MANZINUS – SIMPELIUS
Pic: Highest Resolution Image
of the region B/w Manzinus C
and Simpelius N by OHRC on
Ch-2 Orbiter
Scene Center 2
Dec = - 70.588° S
RA = 22.933° E
Ch-2 Lander Actual Impact
Site (Closer to Scene 2)
• - 70.881° S
• 22.784° E
ISRO

18. JAXA – SLIM – LEV LANDING SITE
SHIOLI CRATER – SEA OF NECTAR

19. JAXA SLIM TARGET LANDING SITE – ISRO OHRC IMAGE

20. SHIOLI CRATER – ISRO OHRC IMAGE

21. JAXA – SLIM – LEV
SLIM (Smart Lander for Investigating Moon) was planning to land near Shioli Crater (13.3°S, 25.2°E) via Weak Stability
Boundary (fuel-saving) Trajectory.
19 January 2024: The Lunar Lander (a.k.a. Moon Sniper for its extremely accurate landing precision within the projected 100
meters (330 ft) long landing ellipse), touched down onto the Moon on 19 January 2024 at 15:20 UTC, at the Sea of Nectar, south
of Theophilus Crater. Japan thus became the 5th nation to successfully soft land an operational spacecraft on the Moon, after
the Soviet Union, United States, China, and India
Although SLIM landed successfully, the Lander suffered a technical issue with its Solar Panels, which became oriented westwards
facing opposite the Sun at the start of Lunar Day, thereby failing to generate enough power.
It was postulated the Lander tipped over on its side after soft-landing, thus orienting its Solar Panels away from the Sun.
The Lander was able to operate on internal Battery Power for a short period of time but was manually powered down on 19
January 2024 at 17:57 UTC (20 January 02:57 Japan Standard Time) to prevent over-discharge of the battery. The mission's
operators hope that the Lander will wake up after a few days when sunlight should hit the solar panels
The two Lunar Excursion Vehicles LEV 1 and 2 Rovers, deployed while the Lander was hovering just before it touched down, are
working as planned, with LEV-1 communicating independently to ground stations
29 January 2024: SLIM Lander resumed operations after being shut for a week. JAXA said it re-established contact with the
Lander, and its Solar Cells were working again after a shift in lighting conditions allowed it to catch sunlight

22. NASA LROC IMAGE – JAXA
SLIM LANDING
Pic: NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) team
captured this image of the JAXA (Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency) SLIM lander on the Moon’s surface
on 24 Jan 2024
SLIM Landing Coordinates:
• Latitude (Declination): 13.316⁰ South
• Longitude (Right Ascension): 25.2510⁰ East
• Elevation = minus (-) 2,992 feet (- 912 meters)
Image is 2,887 feet wide (880 meters)
Lunar North is up
(LROC NAC frame M14607392143L)
Source: Wikipedia (Open Domain)

23. SLIM LANDING SITE –
BEFORE AND AFTER – LROC
Image Pair: Shows LRO views of the area surrounding
the SLIM Landing site before / after landing
• Before: Frame M1254087075L and
• After: Frame M1460739214L
Note the slight change in Reflectance around the
Lander due to engine exhaust sweeping the surface
These images are enlarged by a Factor of 2
Images are about 1,444 feet (440 meters) wide
Source: Wikipedia (Open Domain)

24. DIGITAL SUBTRACTION
IMAGE – SLIM LANDING
Composite Image: Dividing the Before Image from After
• Features that are the same in both images disappear
• Highlighting the changes in surface brightness from
the Rocket Plume
Image is 2,887 feet wide (880 meters)
Lunar North is up
Source: Wikipedia (Open Domain)

25. MOON VIEWS – POTENTIAL LANDING SITES
LUNAR POLES – PITISCUS T – SCHRODINGER – AITKEN – SHACKLETON – MANZINUS – SIMPELIUS –HERMITE
– M3
Credits: Pictures in this section were taken by ISRO and NASA

26. LUNAR VIEWS
Face of the Moon we see from
Earth

27. LUNAR POLES
Lunar South
Pole has
abundant
Water-Ice
Determined by
Chandra's
Altitudinal
Composition
Explorer
(ChACE) output
profile, on
Moon Impact
Probe (MIP)
and
Chandrayaan
1's NASA Moon
Mineralogy
Mapper (M3)
equipment
Confirmed by
Ch 2 IIRS and
DFSAR

28. SOUTH POLE CRATERS
Lunar South
Pole has
many
Craters
Gives a
snapshot of
history of
early Solar
System
through
fossil
remnants

29. WATER-ICE IN SOUTH POLE – ARTIST’S RENDITION

30. LUNAR TEMPERATURES – NASA

31. LUNAR SOUTH POLE
Pic: View of Lunar South Pole Region (Ortho-
graphic Projection) from Clementine Mission
A small red dot has been placed at the most likely
location (Shiv Shakti Point) of Ch-3 Lander (on
upper right quadrant of image)
Lunar Coordinates of Shiv Shakti Point
• Declination = - 69.373⁰ S
• Right Ascension = 32.319⁰ E
Clementine was a joint project b/w NASA and
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Organization
• Clementine was the 1st US spacecraft
launched recently to the Moon in >20
years
• It was designed:
• To test Spacecraft Components during
extended exposure to Space
• To study the Moon and an Asteroid
• The mission succeeded in its Lunar
objectives, but a malfunction forced the

32. Pic: Pitiscus T Crater viewed by Ch-2 DFSAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) L-Band (ISRO)
DFSAR L-BAND IMAGE

33. SCHRODINGER BASIN
• Age: Youngest Crater
• Location: Near South Pole
• Diameter: 320 km
• Depth: 4 km
Credit: NASA

34. AITKEN BASIN
• Age: Oldest Crater
• Location: Near South Pole
• Diameter: 2,500 km
• Depth: 13 km
• Average Temperature: -15⁰ C
Credit: NASA

35. SHACKLETON CRATER
ISRO Ch-1 Moon Impact Probe (MIP) landed here
• Coordinates: 89⁰ South
• Antipodal: Always away from Earth
• Temperature - 230⁰ C (Coldest Area)
• Diameter: 21 km
• Depth: 4 km
Credit: NASA

36. BOGUSLAWSKY CRATER
L. Pic: Region near Boguslawsky E Crater on Moon Surface viewed by
OHRC onboard Ch-2 Orbiter (ISRO)
R. Pic: Boguslawsky Crater indicated by arrow in the zoomed-out image
Boguslawsky has nearly the same dimension and comparable
appearance to Manzinus

37. MANZINUS CRATER
Pic: Lunar Orbiter 4 image of Manzinus Crater on Lunar Surface,
with North at top; Group of dots in lower left is image artefact
Manzinus Crater:
• Lunar Impact Crater in southern region of Moon's near side
• Lies < 1 Crater Diameter to the South-South-West of Crater Mutus
• To the North-West of Boguslawsky Crater (Slide 33)
• It has similar characteristics as Boguslawsky
Outer Rim of Manzinus is worn, eroded, and somewhat irregular.
Outer Rim to the North-North-East is joined to the smaller Manzinus
R, and the crest along that side is lower and forms a saddle
Interior Surface has been resurfaced in the past, and now forms a
level, featureless plain that is marked only by a few tiny craterlets
Floor has the same Albedo as the surrounding terrain
Colongitude: The Angle that defines the exact position of the edge of
the illuminated portion of the Moon (the Terminator). It is measured
Eastward continuously from Lunar Longitude 0⁰ to 360⁰
Coordinates 67.7° S 26.8° E
Diameter 98 km
Depth 3.8 km
Co-longitude 337° at sunrise
Eponym Carlo A. Manzini
Source: Wikipedia

38. MANZINUS
SATELLITES
Nomenclature: By convention these features are identified on Lunar Maps by
placing the letter on the side of the Crater Midpoint that is closest to Manzinus
• There is a cluster of small Craters along the Southern side that partly overlap
each other, consisting of the Craters D, E, G, N
• The heavily eroded Satellite Crater Manzinus A lies along the South-Eastern
inner wall
• The small Crater
Manzinus S lies
along the Northern
inner wall
• Cup-shaped
Manzinus J overlies
the Northwest rim
• Outer rim of
Manzinus to the
North-North-East is
joined to smaller
Manzinus R
Pic: Manzinus Satellites (A to U; Except I, Q):
ISRO

39. SIMPELIUS CRATER
Pic: Lunar Orbiter 4 image of Simpelius Crater with North at top
Simpelius Crater:
• Impact Crater that lies in the Southern part of the Moon
• Lies to the North-North-West of the somewhat larger Schomberger
Crater
• Lies East-South-East of the prominent Moretus
• The most distinctive aspect of this crater is the asymmetry of the Inner
Wall, with the side being nearly twice as wide at the Southern end as it is
to the North
• As a result, the level interior floor is offset to the North of the crater
interior
• Rim and Inner Wall are less sharply defined than those of Schomberger
or Moretus, having been softened and smoothed by impacts
• Rim is uneven, with peaks to the North, West, East, and South-South-
East, and low sections in between
• There are also several small crater pits along the Inner Wall and the
Interior Floor
Coordinates 73.0° S; 15.2° E
Diameter 70 km
Depth 3.2 km
Colongitude 349° at sunrise
Eponym Hugh Sempill
Source: Wikipedia

40. SIMPELIUS SATELLITES
Satellite Craters (A to P; Except I,O)
Nomenclature: By convention these features are identified on Lunar Maps by
placing the letter on the side of the Crater Midpoint that is closest to Simpelius
ISRO
Boguslawsky
Crater is
partially
visible in the
extreme right
side of image

41. HERMITE CRATER –
NORTH POLE – NASA
Source: NASA

42. LUNAR VIEWS
R. Pic:
• 3-D Map of Lunar surface by Ch-2 TMC
• Resolution = 5 m / Pixel
L. Pic: Mineralogical Mapping of Moon by Ch-2 Orbiter IIRS (Imaging
Infra-Red Spectrometer) and NASA

43. ROCK-FORMING MINERALS ON MOON
CHANDRAYAAN-3 PAYLOADS

44. MINERALS ON
MOON
Aluminum
Calcium
Iron
Magnesium
Silicon
Sodium
Titanium
APXS Can Detect: All major
Rock-forming Elements such
as *Aluminum (Al), *Calcium
(Ca), *Iron (Fe), Magnesium
(Mg), *Silicon (Si), Sodium
(Na), *Titanium (Ti)
LIBS Found: *Aluminum (Al),
*Calcium (Ca), Chromium (Cr),
*Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn),
Oxygen (O), *Silicon (Si),
Sulfur (S), *Titanium (Ti)