The world watched holding their breathe as India tried to go where no one had ever gone before -- the south pole of the moon. India's ambitious second lunar mission Chandrayaan 2 was expected to make its soft landing on the surface on the moon late on Friday night.
Enthusiasm turned into a sense of distress at Indian Space Research Organisation's (Isro) Mission Operations Complex in Bengaluru as Chandrayaan 2's lander 'Vikram' lost communication with the ground stations on Saturday just ahead of the soft landing.
ISRO chief K Sivan said till 2.1 km above the surface of the Moon, the mission was doing fine but before Vikram could land, Isro lost contact with it. While it at first glance it may seem like the mission has failed that is far from true.
Everything is not lost. And so is confirmed by many experts.
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"Only 5 percent of the mission has been lost - Vikram, the lander, and Pragyan, the rover. The remaining 95 percent, that is the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter, is orbiting the moon successfully," said an Isro official.
Former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair noted that the orbiter is healthy and functioning normally in the Lunar orbit and that Chandrayaan-2 had multiple objectives, including soft-landing.
Writer and managing editor of Nasa Spaceflight Chris G agreed. He said that "The orbiter is where 95 percent of the experiments are".
"If Vikram failed to land - which it looks like remember the orbiter is where 95 percent of the experiments are. The orbiter is safely in lunar orbit and performing its mission. This is not a total failure. Not at all," Chris G said.
If Vikram failed to land - which it looks like - REMEMBER the ORBITER is where 95% of the experiments are. The Orbiter is safely in Lunar orbit and performing its mission. This is not a total failure. Not at all. #Chandrayaan2 #India #MoonLanding #VikramLander
The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprised three segments the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), 'Vikram' (1,471 kg, four payloads) and 'Pragyan' (27 kg, two payloads).
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III, or the GSLV Mk-III, the biggest and most powerful rocket in India's space garage carried with it the orbiter, lander, and rover. The GSLV Mk-III successfully launched the orbiter. The spacecraft proved itself worthy of the title "Bahubali".
If we look at the mission payloads, we come across a better understanding of things and how it is indeed not a failure as a whole.
The 2379-kg orbiter, with a designed mission life of one year, carries eight scientific payloads for mapping the lunar surface and study the exosphere (outer atmosphere) of the Moon.
The orbiter payloads will conduct remote-sensing observations from a 100 km orbit.
According to Isro, 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.
Chandrayaan-2 orbiter, going around the Moon, is capable of communicating with Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) and the mission life of the Orbiter is one year. With a mission life of one year, the Orbiter can take several pictures of the moon and send it to the Isro. The Orbiter can also take pictures of the lander to know its status, the space agency official said