Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
New Delhi
Support poured in for ISRO scientists on Twitter, with messages of encouragement flooding the micro-blogging site, after Chandrayaan-2’s moon lander Vikram lost contact with ground stations minutes before touchdown early on Saturday morning.
The lessons learned from India’s “bold attempt” to soft land Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module on the lunar surface will help the country during its future missions, former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger said on Saturday.
Linengar, who flew on Russian space station Mir that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001 for five months, took take part in the live telecast of Chandrayaan-2 landing attempt on the National Geographic Channel.
“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 told PTI in an email interview.
Linenger noted that the lander “unfortunately” never quite made it to the hover point –which is an altitude of about 400 metres above the lunar surface.
“…if it had made it to that point, and even if it had not succeeded beyond that, it would have been helpful because the radar altimeters and lasers could have been tested. But if you step back and look at the big picture, this (attempt) would obviously be very helpful for follow on missions,” he said.
An astronaut narrator and space analyst, Linenger said overall the mission has been “very successful.”
“In fact, the orbiter will continue to downlink very valuable information for the next year. And by all indications, all systems are good on the orbiter,” he said.
Leninger also congratulated ISRO for attempting the “difficult” lunar landing.
“I look forward to watching complete success in the future based upon lessons learned from this bold attempt,” Linenger added.
Most users tweeted a video clip in which the prime minister is seen consoling an emotional Sivan, a gesture hailed by Twitterati, who, using the hashtag Chandrayaan2, said may have lost connection with Vikram, but hope remains for future missions.
Describing scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hardworking and their work inspirational, a user said there was “no losing in science”.
“Lost Communication but not hope. We are proud of you ISRO.. #Chandrayaan2,” actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol tweeted.
Chandrayaan-2, which took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on July 22, would have been the first to land on the moon’s southern pole.
“My dear Hard-working & INSPIRATIONAL scientists of @isro, just remember that, in the field of science: ‘THERE’S NO LOSING. THERE’S WINNING. & THEN THERE’S LEARNING.’ I’m sure you would’ve learnt quite a lot during #Chandrayaan2, which will definitely help us in future missions,” a tweet read.
The hashtag Chandrayaan2 was trending ahead of the landing of the Vikram module, however, over 87,000 tweets were being sent after the news broke out.
Other hashtags for K Sivan, VikramLander, ISRO, MoonMission, IndiaOnTheMoon and ProudOfIsro reflected the collective sentiment of Indian twitterati.
Ashish Sharma’s tweeted: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts, we just lost the communication not the hope.”
The Vikram module’s prime objective, after a soft landing, was to send a robotic rover “Pragyan” to study the lunar topography, its minerals, and most importantly, to study the evidence for water molecules first discovered by Chandrayaan-1.
Harini Calamur, a communication professional, said failure was only another step towards progress. “Repeat after me – it is not a failure…it is one more step in the advancement of science. Those who call it a failure don’t get scientific progress….the history of science is filled with stories like this that enabled humanity to build back better. #Chandrayaan2,” she tweeted.
Telugu actor Sudheer Babu tweeted applauding the country’s “brave attempt”.
“Proud of @isro… South polar region of moon is unexplored for all the risky reasons involved. India’s brave attempt not only will guide our future space programs, but also the other space powers. Experiment is the fundamental step of science,” he said.
