As the communications from Chandrayaan-2's Vikram lander to ISRO's ground station was lost before touchdown, netizens on Saturday, 7 September, united on social media asking the space agency to not lose hope.
PM Narendra Modi who was also present at the ISRO Centre in Bengaluru, in a tweet consoled the scientists at ISRO and said “Nation is proud of you.”
Addressing the media, ISRO chairman, K Sivan said that the space agency lost contact with the Vikram lander, when the mission was at an altitude of 2.1 kilometres from the surface of the moon. He added that the lander’s descent was going normally.
(Catch all the live updates on Chandrayaan-2 Landing here)
‘Hope for the Best’: Politicians React to Chandrayaan-2 Landing
From Ram Nath Kovind to Amit Shah, several politicians also reacted on Twitter and extended support to ISRO.
Drawing flak for her initial comments on the success of Chandrayaan 2, where ANI reported that she had said that the mission was “an attempt to divert attention from economic disaster”, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee also congratulated the scientists.
Here’s how netizens reacted:
Moments after the ISRO chairperson briefed the media, ISRO counsellor, Deviprasad Karnik in an official statement said that the space agency has “called off the planned press conference,” where they were supposed to give an official word on the Chandrayaan-2 setback.
ISRO is still trying to establish contact with the lander via the orbitor.
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