India's bold moon touchdown mission faces setback, contact with lander lost just 2.1 km away

India's boid bid to become only the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon suffered a setback in the wee hours of Saturday when the contact with Chandrayaan-2's landing module was abruptly lost just 2.1 km above the lunar surface and seconds away.

As crestfallen scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) here struggled to come to terms with the reverse after lander 'Vikram' was on steady course to touch the lunar south pole, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in rallying behind them, saying they should not get disheartened.

India also would have been the only country to land on the Moon's unexplored south pole as part of the Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 mission conceived a decade ago.

Modi, who addressed the scientists on Saturday morning at the ISRO Mission Control Centre(MCC) complex for the second time in 6 hours, asserted in words of comfort that there will be a "new dawn and better tomorrow" and the best is yet to come in the country's space programme.

The nation is proud of the scientists and stands with them, he said.

"We came very close but we need to cover more ground in the times to come. Learning from today will make us stronger and better. The nation is proud of our space programme and scientists. The best is yet to come in our space programme. There are new frontiers to discover and new places to go. India is with you," Modi said.

The process of controlled descent starting with the rough braking of the 1,471-kg lander named after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme, its progression to fine braking (till the altitude of 2.1 km), all considered "complex and terrifying," culminated with a statement that contact with 'Vikram' was lost.

While millions of people waited with bated breath to witness the lander's touch down after the mission was launched on July 22 to flawlessly cover nearly 4 lakh kilometres in 47 days in multiple manoeuvres, a mood of gloom descended over the control centre after ISRO Chairman K Sivan made a sombre announcement in the presence of the prime minister after some tense moments.

"Vikram lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from the lander to ground stations was lost," said Sivan, his voice choking.

"The data is being analysed", he said at the control centre at the ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) here.

The lander's progress was greeted with applause at the control centre where 60 high school students across the country were also present each time it crossed a critical phase for the planned soft-landing at around 1.55 am.

The last 15 minutes of the mission when the lander attempts to guide itself with the help of its own propulsion system without any support from ground control has repeatedly been described by Sivan as "15 minutes of terror"