The 1,471-kg Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-2 -- first Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology -- is named Vikram after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai
ISRO's attempt to touchdown on the lunar surface may have gone off-script minutes before the planned touch-down of Vikram lander but the Chandrayaan 2 mission can not be called as the failure of the Indian space agency.
The Chandrayaan 2 orbiter, which has the life span of one year is intact and safe. It will continue to study and take pictures of the Moon's surface for the newest one year. The orbiter can also take picture of Vikram lander to find out its status too. The rover, Pragyaan inside the lander had a lifespan of only 14 days.
"Only 5 per cent of the mission has been lost - Vikram the lander and Pragyan the rover - while the remaining 95 per cent - that is the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter - is orbiting the moon successfully," an official of the ISRO told IANS.
The 1,471-kg Vikram lander of Chandrayaan-2 -- first Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology -- is named Vikram after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme.
ISRO's Chandrayaan 2 mission has successfully completed all the five manoeuvre, before losing communication with the space agency.
All eyes were pinned on Chandrayaan-2's historic landing on the lunar south pole when ISRO announced that communication with the Vikram lander of the spacecraft was lost moments before its planned landing on moon's surface.
"Vikram lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, the communications from the lander to ground stations were lost," ISRO chief K Sivan said while informing about the communication failure.
The successful landing would have made India the fourth country to successfully land its rover on the Moon after the United States, Russia and China. The lander carried three scientific payloads to conduct surface and subsurface science experiments, while the rover carried two payloads to enhance our understanding of the lunar surface.
"I think we need not worry too much...I will rate more than 95 per cent of the mission objectives have been achieved," Nair told PTI after lander 'Vikram' lost contact with ground-stations during final descent to the Lunar surface in the early hours of Saturday.
"Already, the orbiter is in space and it should do an excellent job of mapping", he added.
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