Prez, PM, CMs hail ISRO’s Moon mission

Surjit Kumar Dhal, New Delhi, Sep 7: Indian President Ramnath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Ministers of a host of states and political parties have lauded the Moon Mission of Indian Space Research Organisation notwithstanding the last minute hitch due to the snapping of communication with the Lander Vikram early on Saturday.

                Kovind recited a popular couplet to encourage the scientists who were though distraught at the failure in landing of Vikra. “Hum honge kamayab, mann me hai vishwas, poora hai vishwas hum honge kamyaab ek din,”  is how the President summed up his reaction on the Chandrayan-2 mission on Saturday.

                “We covered 3.84 lakh-km journey successfully, only 2.1 km were left. The distance left is negligible on such a huge scale. It’s such a huge achievement,” he said adding, it was just a coincidence and not misfortune. Modi asserted that there will be a “new dawn”. Addressing the scientists that the Prime Minister said the country’s determination to land on the moon has become even stronger. “There is nothing to despair. ISRO only lost communication with the Lander & not the hopes of 1.3 billion Indians,” Naidu reacted. Former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger said 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.

                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. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das said the country is proud of ISRO even though ups and downs are part of our life”. Chandrayaan Mission was very inspirational and unprecedented even though ups and downs are part of our lives,” he said. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar praised the scientists of ISRO for Chandrayaan-2 mission and said the entire nation is proud of their efforts.

                “… We are proud of their (scientists) efforts for significant achievement. The entire nation appreciates the efforts of scientists at ISRO and stands with you,” Kumar said in an official release. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said the ISRO scientists worked hard for Chandrayaan-2 mission and the nation is with them. “We are proud of our scientists. The @isro team worked hard for #Chandrayaan2. A befitting tribute to our founding fathers who envisioned India’s place in the league of scientifically advanced nations far ahead of their times,” she tweeted. The Congress party lauded ISRO saying that the country “stands by” the ISRO and asserted that its effort was “not in vain” and laid the foundation for future missions.