paragraph of Chandrayaan 2
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Chandrayaan-2's lander and rover were targeted for a location about 600 km (375 miles) from the south pole, which would have been the first time any mission touched down so far from the equator, according to a January 2018 article in Science magazine. ISRO planned to use the experience for more challenging missions in the future, such as touching down on an asteroid or Mars, or sending a spacecraft to Venus, IRSO chair Kailasavadivoo Sivan said in the article.
The lander was expected to last about one lunar day, or 14 Earth-days, and it was unclear if it would revive after falling into the darkness of a lunar night and ISRO will have to wait until another mission to find out.
On Sept. 6, 2019 at 4:48 p.m. EDT (2048 GMT) K. Sivan, the director of ISRO, confirmed that communication had been lost with the Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander.
"Vikram lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 kilometers [1.3 miles]," Sivan said in an announcement at mission control. "Subsequently the communications from the lander to the ground station was lost. The data is being analyzed."
Sivan did not specify when ISRO would be able to provide updates about the fate of the Vikram lander. According to data shown during the descent maneuver, the lowest altitude reported back to Earth was 0.2 miles (0.33 km) above the lunar surface.
A plot comparing live data received to the mission's trajectory suggested that Vikram was about 0.6 miles (1 km) horizontally off-track from the targeted landing site when communications stopped.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had arrived onsite at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru, India, about half an hour before scheduled touchdown of Vikram and was there to witness the communication loss.
"India is proud of our scientists!" Modi wrote in a Twitter update shortly after learning of the anomaly. "They've given their best and have always made India proud. These are moments to be courageous, and courageous we will be!"
"We remain hopeful and will continue working hard on our space programme," he added.
Chandrayaan-2 was the most complex mission ever attempted by India's space agency, Isro. Its chairman K Sivan - who had earlier described the final descent as "15 minutes of terror" - has since said the mission was "98% successful", based on the findings of an official committee.