PM Modi to address nation at 8 am after moon lander loses contact

The address comes after ISRO lost communication with ‘Vikram’ lander of Chandrayaan 2 moments before it was preparing to make a soft-landing on the south pole region of the Moon.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 8 AM on Saturday, in the backdrop of Chandrayaan-2’s lander ‘Vikram’ losing contact with ground stations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation from ISRO Control Centre here on Saturday morning.. (Reuters File Photo)

“#ISRO Honorable Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi will address the nation from ISRO Control Centre today(September 07, 2019) at 0800 hrs IST,” ISRO tweeted.

ISRO’s plan to soft-land Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module on the Lunar surface did not go as per script in the early hours of Saturday, with the lander losing communication with ground stations during its final descent.

WATCH| Chandrayaan 2: ‘Don’t lose heart’, says PM Modi after Vikram lander loses contact during descent

Vikram’s descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km.

Subsequently, communication from Lander to the ground stationswas lost, ISRO said, adding that data was being analyzed.

Modi, who flew into Bengaluru on Friday night to watch the planned touch-down of Vikram, told ISRO scientists not to get dejected and disheartened and said the country is proud of them.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)