In the early hours of 7 September, India launched Chandrayaan-2, its second unmanned mission to the moon. The Vikram lander was scheduled to touchdown on the south pole of the moon at 1:53 am, however, in a disappointing turn of events, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) lost communication with the lander when it was about 2.1 km from the surface of the moon. ISRO chairman K Sivan confirmed the news in a statement shortly after.
Several Bollywood celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu, took to social media to applaud and express their pride in ISRO's efforts. Akshay and Taapsee were last seen in Mission Mangal, which is based on ISRO's 2013 Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan.
(Catch all the live updates on Chandrayaan-2 Landing here)
Here's what they had to say:
"There's no science without experiment... sometimes we succeed, sometimes we learn, Salute to the brilliant minds of @ISRO, we are proud and confident #Chandrayaan2 will make way for #Chandrayaan3 soon. We will rise again," tweeted Akshay.
Shah Rukh Khan expressed a similar sentiment writing, "Sometimes we don't land or arrive at the destination we want to. The important thing is we took off and had the hope and belief we can. Our current situation is never and not our final destination. That always comes in time and belief! Proud of #ISRO," he wrote.
Taapsee noted that while the mission may not have been entirely successful, ISRO had nevertheless managed to unite a nation "in hope and spirit".
THere's how other celebs reacted:
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