1. There were hundreds of us in the lecture hall, watching the descent of the Vikram Landerof the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft, with thePragyan rover, descending on the lunar surface,all 1498 kg of it hurtling down, pulled by thegravity of Moon. It had separated from the rest of the spacecraft four days ago, leaving the Orbiter, where it is going to spend at least seven years,with its eightexcellent instruments ,sending back crucial scientific information about the Moon, its environment andeven the Sun

2. We were applauding as the green dot on the plot of the landing trajectory, showing the altitude andthe range of the lander, reached about two km above the surface, at which point its speed was about50 m/s. Then our spirits fell as it deviated from the expected course, and got stuck, indicating thatwe had lost communication. This is the phase, which the ISRO Chairperson Dr. K. Sivan had describedas the, “15 minutes of terror”. We still haven’t recovered communication, but thermal imaging fromthe orbiter’s cameras has located the site of the landing. The extent of the damage to Vikramis still being assessed. If things had gone according to plan, India would have joined an elite club ofthree other nations that have landed in one piece on an extra-terrestrial surface–the Moon.

3. Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July on the GSLV-3, taking a complicated, fuel efficient path to theMoon lasting over 40 days. In contrast with the Apollo missions being launched on the more powerfulSaturn-V launchers in the 1960s, this mission was kept affordable, but sent the mission on a longjourney fraught with possible pitfalls.

4. We are now hopeful that we will gain contact with Vikram, lovingly named after the founder of ISROin its birth centenary year. Even if some of the instruments can be made to work, we would havevaluable information and images close to the lunar surface and learn more about what to do and whatnot to in our next attempt.

5. The CLASS instrument on the orbiter will quantify the amount of calcium, magnesium, iron, sodiumand other useful elements on or below the lunar surface through X-ray fluorescence. The IIRSinstrument, also on the orbiter, will tell us about water and minerals under the surface.

6. Even if we choose not to live on the Moon, we need a Moon base, as a refuelling station, or as anassembly or service station. We have to know what resources are available on the Moon. What is asmall part of this mission is not successful? In my mind, the journey of ISRO team that has broughtthe mission to where it is now is more important than the task that will be performed. Similarly,the complicated journey of the spacecraft from the Earth to and around the Moon has adequatelydemonstrated what Indian technology can achieve