Unfortunately, India’s second lunar mission, the Chandrayaan – 2, through which India attempted to reach Moon’s south polar region – a place where no other nation has ever gone – saw some last-minute challenges.
Contact with the lander, Vikram, was lost when it was just 2.1 kilometres away from the moon’s surface. However, the Chandrayaan – 2 orbiter is successfully orbiting the moon.
Despite the lander derailing in its efforts to reach the moon, India has rallied behind its space agency – the Indian Space research Organization (ISRO) and all its scientists. And why should it not! The rest of the mission has been a massive success, with the orbiter successfully orbiting the moon.
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, who was present at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru to witness the landing, boosted the morale of the scientists by saying that the “best was yet to come.”
He also gave an endearing embrace to the Chairman of the ISRO, K. Sivan who was, understandably, distraught by the circumstances.
PM @narendramodi consoles an emotional @isro Chairman K. Sivan #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/SmRaNGtxAB
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) September 7, 2019
He took to social media to encourage the scientists further.
India is proud of our scientists! They’ve given their best and have always made India proud. These are moments to be courageous, and courageous we will be!
Chairman @isro gave updates on Chandrayaan-2. We remain hopeful and will continue working hard on our space programme.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 6, 2019
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Bhutan tweeted that India will, one day, succeed in this mission.
We are proud of India and its scientists today. Chandrayaan-2 saw some challenges last minute but the courage and hard work you have shown are historical. Knowing Prime Minister @narendramodi, I have no doubt he and his ISRO team will make it happen one day.
— PM Bhutan (@PMBhutan) September 7, 2019
Also, celebrities and sportspersons from all over India tweeted to show solidarity with the scientists.
Failure is the first step to success.
Our moon mission didn’t pan out and that’s alright. We tried our best. What a commendable effort by everyone at #ISRO you make us so, so proud. ??#Chandrayaan2— Suresh Raina?? (@ImRaina) September 7, 2019
We are proud of you team @isro for your ultimate hard work, you have not lost, you have gotten us further. Keep the dream alive.? #Chandrayaan2
— Shikhar Dhawan (@SDhawan25) September 7, 2019
The country stands together, proud and hopeful! Thank you @isro. #Chandrayaan2 ??
— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) September 7, 2019
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.
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) September 7, 2019
We as a nation are extremely proud of the entire team at @ISRO for the incredible work put together for the mission of #Chandrayaan2. With hope and passion in our hearts let’s get up and do it again and never give up !
— yuvraj singh (@YUVSTRONG12) September 7, 2019
As a society, we generally tend to underscore successes and denounce failures. We hope that the Chandrayaan – 2 changes the perception of the entire society towards how we look at successes and setbacks.
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