India loses contact with spacecraft on mission to the moon

By Chris Thomas

 

FILE PHOTO: Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists work on various modules of lunar mission Chandrayaan-2 at ISRO Satellite Integration and Test Establishment (ISITE) in Bengaluru, India, June 12, 2019. Picture taken through a green glass window. REUTERS/Chris Thomas

 

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India lost contact with a spacecraft it was attempting to land on the moon on Saturday, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said, in a setback to the nation's ambitious plans to become the first country to probe the unexplored lunar south pole.

 

The lander of India's Chandrayaan-2 moon mission was attempting a "soft," or controlled, landing near the south pole of the moon where scientists believe there could be water ice. ISRO lost communication with it just as it was about to land on the moon.

 

"Data is being analyzed," ISRO Chairman K Sivan told a room full of distraught scientists at the agency's tracking center in Bengaluru.

 

The Indian designed spacecraft, which had been orbiting the moon, began descending towards the lunar surface at about 2007 GMT but scientists lost contact with it during the penultimate stage of the descent.

 

For a graphic on the spacecraft's planned landing sequence, click

 

"Vikram lander 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," an ISRO official said. The lander was named Vikram after the father of India's space program, Vikram Sarabhai.

 

A live broadcast from ISRO, India's equivalent of NASA, showed scientists grow tense and the floor fall silent as the control station struggled to get a signal from the lander.

 

"There are ups and downs in life ... What you have accomplished is no small achievement," Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was present at the ISRO center, told scientists after being briefed by Sivan.

 

Sivan had earlier described the final moments of the landing mission as "15 minutes of terror," due to the complexities involved with lunar gravity, terrain and dust.

 

Only the United States, Russia and China have landed on the moon. Beijing's Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the far side earlier this year. Israel made an unsuccessful attempt to land its Beresheet spacecraft on the moon in April.

 

The south pole is believed to contain water as craters in the region are largely unaffected by the high temperatures of the sun. ISRO had hoped to confirm the presence of water in the form of ice, first detected on its mission in 2008.

 

(Reporting by Chris Thomas and Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-09-07

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

Am I the only one thinking a country like India should  have priories like clean drinking water and  proper sanitation before tackling landing on the moon. 

1 minute ago, pegman said:

Am I the only one thinking a country like India should  have priories like clean drinking water and  proper sanitation before tackling landing on the moon. 

No, you beat me to it by a whisker ????

Look like India lucked out. 

Israel try and fail.

 

Only NASA can do it perfect ..with 50 years ago old technology

555

11 minutes ago, tingtongtourist said:

Look like India lucked out. 

Israel try and fail.

 

Only NASA can do it perfect ..with 50 years ago old technology

555

Like the Nasa did not have its failures. 

30 minutes ago, pegman said:

Am I the only one thinking a country like India should  have priories like clean drinking water and  proper sanitation before tackling landing on the moon. 

This will stimulate the economy and will help them have more money for the poor too. This is not just vanity research often helps the economy and drives it. On the long run this is a good strategy. I wish Europe would put more money into research of medicine for instance to beat pharma companies. Research is good on whatever field it may be.

2 minutes ago, robblok said:

This will stimulate the economy and will help them have more money for the poor too. 

Care to elaborate on how it will help the poor? Because I'm calling BS. Mission control and any rocket production won't be done by anyone poor. If anything the rich will get richer through corruptly issued contracts

What a waste of money, seems they have no priorities regarding the millions of poor with no amenities.......????

2 minutes ago, SammyT said:

Care to elaborate on how it will help the poor? Because I'm calling BS. Mission control and any rocket production won't be done by anyone poor. If anything the rich will get richer through corruptly issued contracts

Yea call B.S. on it, things learned from this will fuel a knowledge economy and that will generate tax income that can help the poor. Do you really think that research does not pay for itself. In the end countries with good research will outperform those without it. 

Sad I was hoping they would be successful it would have been a great source of pride for all the Indian people rich and poor alike 

13 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yea call B.S. on it, things learned from this will fuel a knowledge economy and that will generate tax income that can help the poor. Do you really think that research does not pay for itself. In the end countries with good research will outperform those without it. 

Cool so they can research how to lose a rocket in outer space but cant research how to provide drinking water and food for millions of their poorest. I'm sure the hungry kid in the slums is really pleased with the new rocket though.

56 minutes ago, pegman said:

Am I the only one thinking a country like India should  have priories like clean drinking water and  proper sanitation before tackling landing on the moon. 

You could pose the same question about the USA - many states have areas of poverty....

10 minutes ago, brokenbone said:

zero sum theory, typical to senile tvf members.

the manhattan project, one of the most expensive

programs ever made, for the purpose of creating the atomic bomb, -turned out to provide electricity.

 

another is internet, originally designed to give US military commanders better communications,

now you sit and complain on a forum over these kind of programs as a result of what you would have condemned useless

Meanwhile literally millions of rural Indians have to go into the fields behind their shacks to have a <deleted>, because they have neither running water nor sanitation. 

 

I have been to several Indian cities. Without exception they stink, because there is no effective sanitation.

 

Absolutely basic human requirements, fundemental to health and a decent life, ignored whilst they build and send rockets to see if they can find ice on the South Pole of the moon!

 

Edited September 7, 20196 yr by JAG

1 minute ago, JAG said:

Meanwhile literally millions of rural Indians have to go into the fields behind their shacks to have a <deleted>, because they have neither running water or sanitation. 

 

I have been to several Indian cities. Without exception they stink, because there is no effective sanitation.

 

Absolutely basic human requirements, fundemental to health and a decent life, ignored whilst they build and send rockets to see if they can find ice on the South Pole of the moon!

 

Like the UK has no poverty and still doe research or spend a lot on their military.. double standards anyone. 

2 minutes ago, simon43 said:

You could pose the same question about the USA - many states have areas of poverty....

Terrible analogy. Having been to both countries extensively for work, I can say the scale of poverty and third-world conditions is incomparable. 

11 minutes ago, JAG said:

Meanwhile literally millions of rural Indians have to go into the fields behind their shacks to have a <deleted>, because they have neither running water nor sanitation. 

 

I have been to several Indian cities. Without exception they stink, because there is no effective sanitation.

 

Absolutely basic human requirements, fundemental to health and a decent life, ignored whilst they build and send rockets to see if they can find ice on the South Pole of the moon!

 

its programs of this kind that provided electricity to a large chunk of population in india.

for instance the research for the atomic bomb,

that on top of consuming very large resources,

also triggered trade sanctions for a long time,

punishing the population.

but i bet every one of those that now enjoy electricity from 20+ reactors are happy as a fish in water the state did pursue research

India has an extensive space program, which especially helps students of engineering and technology in many developing countries by launching 'Cubesats' into space for a fraction of the cost of what the US companies charge.

 

I worked as a satellite systems designer for 15 years, and am currently building a Cubesat 'for fun'.  I can get it launched on an Indian rocket for just $10,000.  Multiply that by at least 5 if I try to get it launched in Europe or the US.

 

Many other developments stem from space/satellite research.  Perhaps some people are getting 'twitchy' because engineers in these developing countries can now do what the US did, but far cheaper and with less 'red tape'.

1 hour ago, Tug said:

Sad I was hoping they would be successful it would have been a great source of pride for all the Indian people rich and poor alike 

I doubt the poor give a flying f_rt about it ,they are more interested in getting clean drinking water and food to fill their malnurished kids bellies.

2 hours ago, tingtongtourist said:

Look like India lucked out. 

Israel try and fail.

 

Only NASA can do it perfect ..with 50 years ago old technology

555

yeah sure they can lol

1 hour ago, simon43 said:

India has an extensive space program, which especially helps students of engineering and technology in many developing countries by launching 'Cubesats' into space for a fraction of the cost of what the US companies charge.

 

I worked as a satellite systems designer for 15 years, and am currently building a Cubesat 'for fun'.  I can get it launched on an Indian rocket for just $10,000.  Multiply that by at least 5 if I try to get it launched in Europe or the US.

 

Many other developments stem from space/satellite research.  Perhaps some people are getting 'twitchy' because engineers in these developing countries can now do what the US did, but far cheaper and with less 'red tape'.

What makes you think you can come on TVF and contribute with a logical, well constructed argument and get somewhere.......get real buddy!!

Edited September 7, 20196 yr by ThaiFelix
misspelling

If Stanley Kubrick was alive he could have helped them have a flawless moon landing.....The moon landing would have been picture perfect......

Edited September 7, 20196 yr by fforest1

Be afraid, very afraid. How many Indians are holding Information Technology positions throughout the world. I've been in the IT industry and they hire some very sophomoric Indians to handle sensitive positions... Most of the engineering skills of these guys amount to trial and error systems engineering.. LOL, it's really a joke. I'm not surprised that even 50 years after USA put multiple manned spacecraft on the moon India is still struggling to put a robot there. When there is a problem they all ban together to figure out some stupid excuse for their mistakes.. Not ALL of the Indians I've worked with are poor engineers but more often than not it has been the case.

Edited September 7, 20196 yr by likerdup1

6 minutes ago, likerdup1 said:

Be afraid, very afraid. How many Indians are holding Information Technology positions throughout the world. I've been in the IT industry and they hire some very sophomoric Indians to handle sensitive positions... Most of the engineering skills of these guys amount to trial and error systems engineering.. LOL, it's really a joke. I'm not surprised that even 50 years after USA put multiple manned spacecraft on the moon India is still struggling to put a robot there.

Yea its just a crying shame we have lost that 50 year old technology......Technology just seems to be going down hill every year since 1969 does it not?

Edited September 7, 20196 yr by fforest1

45 minutes ago, JAG said:

Sometimes you know your "slip shows" and you make a post which rather than making any useful or relevant contribution to a discussion simply illustrates the degree to which you occasionally hoist a rather large chip onto your shoulder. My, and other peoples comments on whether India and the Indian people would be better served by investing in basic infrastructures to improve the quality of life of their (huge numbers of) poor people, rather than spending it on a "we've got one too" space programme can certainly be debated, and perhaps rebutted. Some posters have made valid points, which I have read with interest and noted. Burbling about the UK and "great white Bwana" being overtaken does neither, and as I have said "your slip is showing"!

I made quite a few comments that you probably missed, but some people are just to racist and are exactly the way i describe them JAG you might not be one of them but plenty of them can't stand it that a former colony is doing things the old boss can't do. 

 

I made my points already why it was a good thing as its known that countries that spend much on research always win. Its great for the economy too bad many people don't see that they only want to comment negatively on India or any country they feel superior too.

 

If you invest enough in research your economy will bloom freeing up more tax money for the poor. So its not a direct effect but an indirect effect. Just economics and if you look at this without a bias view you would see it.

Two troll posts, from the same member, removed.

14 minutes ago, likerdup1 said:

Be afraid, very afraid. How many Indians are holding Information Technology positions throughout the world. I've been in the IT industry and they hire some very sophomoric Indians to handle sensitive positions... Most of the engineering skills of these guys amount to trial and error systems engineering.. LOL, it's really a joke. I'm not surprised that even 50 years after USA put multiple manned spacecraft on the moon India is still struggling to put a robot there. When there is a problem they all ban together to figure out some stupid excuse for their mistakes.. Not ALL of the Indians I've worked with are poor engineers but more often than not it has been the case.

 

Why is it that only the US is mentioned whenever space comes up, Russia did as much if not more in that area.

4 hours ago, tingtongtourist said:

Look like India lucked out. 

Israel try and fail.

 

Only NASA can do it perfect ..with 50 years ago old technology

555

On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after blasting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven astronauts on board — including New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, a civilian who had been selected to fly via NASA's "Teacher in Space" program.

 

 

yes perfect

Just now, White Christmas13 said:

On Jan. 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after blasting off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, killing all seven astronauts on board — including New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, a civilian who had been selected to fly via NASA's "Teacher in Space" program.

 

 

yes perfect

https://www.nasa.gov/launchschedule/

 

They often launch russian Soyuz rockets, as they are way cheaper and reliable imo.

Europe and Russia have quite some commercial rocket launches too...

 

 

Ground control to Major Arjun........

2 hours ago, robblok said:

I made quite a few comments that you probably missed, but some people are just to racist and are exactly the way i describe them JAG you might not be one of them but plenty of them can't stand it that a former colony is doing things the old boss can't do. 

 

I made my points already why it was a good thing as its known that countries that spend much on research always win. Its great for the economy too bad many people don't see that they only want to comment negatively on India or any country they feel superior too.

 

If you invest enough in research your economy will bloom freeing up more tax money for the poor. So its not a direct effect but an indirect effect. Just economics and if you look at this without a bias view you would see it.

Even if the R&D argument is true, which is highly debatable, that's not the reason they are doing it. It's pure pride. In India's case, the analogy of a mother who buys a nice outfit for herself while her kids are in rags is impossible to avoid. There's something crass about it. And if Britain doesn't land on the moon, I warrant it's for precisely that reason and not because they can't master the technology.