ISRO Chief Was Inconsolable After The Prime Minister's Address To The Nation

The entire nation went through a sleepless night as the Vikram lander started its descent toward the lunar south pole. It was a mission fraught with difficulties and though the result was not in our favour, it will be counted a success nonetheless.

ISRO¡¯s men and women of science knew the stakes were high and did everything that was humanly possible. They know they have to take the good with the bad in their stride and carry on. But an emotional moment was caught on camera that reflects exactly the sentiments that the whole nation is feeling.

ISRO chief K Sivan broke down in front of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was leaving the ISRO center in Bengaluru. The inconsolable senior scientist was hugged by the Prime Minister. It is at moments like this when emotions take over and make even the most strong-willed cry. Needless to say, K Sivan and his entire team had worked tirelessly on this mission and for them, it was indeed a heartbreaking moment when they came extremely close, but could not ultimately get the desired result.

As a nation we must remember that space exploration is a field full of surprises and dangers and that ISRO will do what it has always done ¨C achieve even bigger success after a setback.

This is Mission Control Centre. #VikramLander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from Lander to the ground stations was lost. Data is being analyzed.#ISRO

¡ª ISRO (@isro) 6 September 2019

While this is a difficult time, the entire nation is backing ISRO. Onwards and upwards ISRO, the nation stands by you.

Jai Hind.