Chandrayaan 2: NASA Lauds India's Moon Mission, Hails ISRO For Inspiring With Their Journey

Lauding India’s historic Chandrayaan-2 mission, NASA said it is looking forward to explore the solar system with ISRO.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) attempt to soft-land Vikram module on the lunar South Pole has “inspired” it.

New Delhi: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said that Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) attempt to soft-land Vikram module on the lunar South Pole has “inspired” it. Lauding India’s historic Chandrayaan-2 mission, the U.S. space agency said it is looking forward to explore the solar system with its Indian counterpart. “Space is hard. We commend ISRO’s attempt to land their Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon’s South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together,” NASA said in a tweet on Saturday.

Space is hard. We commend @ISRO’s attempt to land their #Chandrayaan2 mission on the Moon’s South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together. https://t.co/pKzzo9FDLL

— NASA (@NASA) September 7, 2019

ISRO’s plan to soft-land Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module on the uncharted South Pole did not go as per script on Saturday, with the lander losing communication with ground stations during its final descent. However, on Sunday, the location of moon lander Vikram was found to be at the surface of the moon, the agency’s chairman K Sivan informed. Earlier, former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger had said that the lessons learnt from India’s “bold attempt” to soft land Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module on the lunar surface will help the country during its follow up missions. “We should not be too discouraged. India was trying to do something very, very difficult. In fact, everything was going as planned as the lander came down,” Linenger was quoted by PTI as saying. Also Watch | Vikram Lander Located At Lunar Surface; ISRO Trying To Establish Link The Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched on July 22 by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III). The spacecraft began its journey towards the moon, leaving the earth’s orbit on August 14 after a crucial manoeuvre called Trans Lunar Insertion or TLI that was carried out by ISRO to place the spacecraft on “lunar transfer trajectory”. According to NASA, only half of the lunar missions involving landing on moon surface have succeeded in the last six decades. (with inputs from PTI)