All set for soft-landing of 'Vikram', PM says mission

As the nation awaits with bated breath for the soft-landing of the 'Vikram' lander on the south pole of the lunar surface, the first attempt by any country, ISRO said on Friday everything related to the much awaited touchdown is going as per plan.

Joining the nation in wishing ISRO a success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the mission manifests the best of Indian talent and spirit of tenacity.

"Its success will benefit crores of Indians," he said in a series of tweets.

"We are eagerly waiting for the event. Everything is going according to the plan," Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation K Sivan told PTI on Friday.

The touchdown of 'Vikram' lander is scheduled between 1.30 am and 2.30 am, followed by the rollout of rover 'Pragyan' between 5.30 a.m and 6.30 a.m.

The soft landing will be telecast live from 1.10 a.m on Doordarshan, webcast on ISRO website and streamed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Hours before the "historic" event, Prime Minister Modi in a series of tweets said, "The moment 130 crore Indians were enthusiastically waiting for is here! In a few hours from now, the final descent of Chandrayaan-2 will take place on the Lunar South Pole. India, and the rest of the world will yet again see the exemplary prowess of our space scientists."
He described the soft-landing as "almost like placing a baby on the cradle", and said, "there is certain amount of anxiety but there is no fear."
The spacecraft began its journey towards the moon leaving the earth's orbit in the dark hours on August 14, after a crucial manoeuvre called Trans Lunar Insertion that was carried out by ISRO to place the spacecraft on "Lunar Transfer Trajectory."