Bengaluru: The Chandrayaan-2s Vikram module has been located on the Lunar surface and it must have been a hard-landing, ISRO chairman K Sivan said Sunday.
Asked if the lander was ‘damaged’ during the ‘hard-landing,’ he said, “That we do not know.”
Sivan said efforts to establish contact with the lander were continuing.
India’s mission to soft-land on moon suffered a setback during the wee hours on Saturday, with Chandrayaan-2’s ‘Vikram’ module losing communication with ground stations, just 2.1 km from the lunar surface during its final descent.
Also read: Chandrayaan-2 mission is not a ‘failure’, plenty of science expected from orbiter
This has been a very successful mission, many systems have been validated. The last pieces will soon fall into place. However, one would urge reconsideration of manned space programmes, and not just for the risk. They are more expensive, by several orders of magnitude. The same scientific benefits are achieved by unmanned missions, at a fraction of the cost. 2. Putting a man on the moon sensitised the world to the promise of space exploration. However, there was a strong aspect of US – Soviet rivalry, at the height of the Cold War.
You have to leave this Congress attitude behind. ISRO’s plans have been duly approved by government. I am sure your type of concerns have already been considered. It would be better to have curiosity to know what ISRO wants to achieve rather than advising ISRO what it should do.