Don’t lose hope: India rallies behind ISRO after loss of communication with Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram Lander

Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded ISRO scientists involved in Chandrayaan-2 even as he encouraged them to keep up their good work for the benefit of the country.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lost contact with Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram Lander just 2.1 km away from scripting history. The space agency is analysing the data to extract more details about the development. Taking to microblogging site Twitter, ISRO confirmed, “This is Mission Control Centre. #VikramLander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from Lander to the ground stations was lost. Data is being analyzed.”

The whole nation, including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has reacted to the development, saying they stand with ISRO and asserting that success would be achieved eventually.

Prime Minister Modi lauded the scientists involved in Chandrayaan-2 even as he encouraged them to keep up their good work for the benefit of the country. President Kovind said that the entire team of ISRO had shown exemplary commitment and courage.

Here are some of the reactions:

With #Chandrayaan2 Mission, the entire team of ISRO has shown exemplary commitment and courage. The country is proud of @ISRO. We all hope for the best #PresidentKovind

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) September 6, 2019

India is proud of our scientists! They’ve given their best and have always made India proud. These are moments to be courageous, and courageous we will be!

Chairman @isro gave updates on Chandrayaan-2. We remain hopeful and will continue working hard on our space programme. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 6, 2019

ISRO’s achievement with getting Chandrayaan-2 so far has made every Indian proud.

India stands with our committed and hard working scientists at @isro.

My best wishes for future endeavours. — Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 6, 2019

Congratulations to the team at #ISRO for their incredible work on the Chandrayaan 2 Moon Mission. Your passion & dedication is an inspiration to every Indian. Your work is not in vain. It has laid the foundation for many more path breaking & ambitious Indian space missions. — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 6, 2019

Journey of #Chandrayaan2 so far and what lies ahead is no less than an achievement. We are proud of our scientists and confident that India’s space programme only gets stronger & better from here. Team @isro - a proud, grateful & an inspired nation stands with you!

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) September 7, 2019

My dear @isro scientists, your courage is unparalleled. I am reminded of Atal ji’s beautiful poem.....

हार नहीं मानूंगा
रार नई ठानूंगा
काल के कपाल पे
लिखता मिटाता हूं
गीत नया गाता हूं ....

स्वर्णिम भारत का सपना हमने मिलकर देखा है !
आपके प्रयत्न शीघ्र फल लाएँगे#Chandrayaan2 — Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) September 6, 2019

Prime Minister Modi is slated to address the nation from ISRO Control Centre at 8 am on Saturday. "Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from ISRO Control Centre today (September 07, 2019) at 0800 hrs IST," ISRO said in a tweet. Chandrayaan-2's Vikram Lander was just 2.1 kilometres away from making history when it lost contact with the ISRO's Mission Control Centre. The descent progressed smoothly for 13 minutes before Vikram started to deviate from its planned path and about 12 seconds before the touch down on Moon's surface.