ISRO Loses Contact with Vikram Lander Moments Before Touchdown

Bengaluru, September 7, 2019:

In a big setback to India's space hopes, scientists of ISRO lost contact with the moon lander Vikram moments before it touched down on the moon's surface. India was hoping to become the first country to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon.

If the landing was executed successfully as planned, India would have become the fourth country -- after the United States, Russia and China -- to soft-land on the moon.

Meanwhile, the footage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi consoling an emotional ISRO chief K Sivan this morning, hours after the space agency announced it lost contact with Chandrayaan 2 lander, has gone viral.

PM Modi flew to Bengaluru on Friday night to watch the planned touchdown of the Vikram lander, hugged the ISRO chief as he broke down. He said, "Our determination to touch moon has become even stronger and the best is yet to come."

After seeing the ISRO Chief breaking down, MP Tejasvi Surya tweeted: "That #ISRO Chief Shivan broke down into tears only shows how invested he was in success of the mission (sic)."

Chandrayaan 2 is India's third mission to a celestial body, after Chandryaan 1 mission in 2008, and the Mars Orbiter Mission in 2013.

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