Chandrayaan 2 - PM Modi Consoles ISRO Scientists

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the 7th of September, addressed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists at the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.

Mr. Modi comforted the ISRO scientists after they lost connection with Vikram Lander and said the Nation stands with them. He further said, “I have lived the moment with you when communication with spacecraft was lost. Our courage has become stronger. Our determination to touch moon has become even stronger. We came very close, but we need to cover more ground. Learnings from today will make us stronger and better, there will be a new dawn.”

Around 1:38 A.M., on the 7th of September, the ISRO informed they lost communication with Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram Lander. Vikram Lander was expected to land on the surface of the Moon on the 7th of September, however, the Lander did not make a smooth landing as it was unable to reduce its speed from 6,048 km per hour to 7 km per hour or lower. The communication was lost 13 minutes after Vikram Lander started its descent.

K. Sivan, the Chairman of the ISRO, said, “The descent of Vikram was going on as per plan, and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of at 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from the lander to the ground station was lost. Data being analysed.”

Prime Minister encouraged the ISRO scientists and spoke about the journey of the Chandrayaan 2, which lifted on the 22nd of July. He saluted the efforts of the scientists.

Mr. Modi said, “You came as close as you could. I also salute the families of our space scientists. I can proudly say that the efforts were worth it and so was the journey. Our team tried hard and travelled far and we will look back at the journey with great satisfaction, the learning from today will make us stronger and better. There will be a new dawn and brighter tomorrow very soon.”

Mr. Modi is at ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru.

Addressing our hardworking space scientists. Watch. https://t.co/rPRfGBQLJQ

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 7, 2019

Twitter is also flooded with messages and tweets appreciating the efforts of the ISRO, with #Chandrayaan2 and #ISRO.