Chandrayaan 2 UPDATES: Communication with Vikram lander lost, says ISRO

Expressing solidarity with the scientific community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said "India is proud of our scientists", and asked them to be "courageous."

Special arrangements made to see the descent of Chandrayaan2 at ISTRAC in Bengaluru (Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal, EPS)

On a morning when Chandrayaan 2's lander Vikram fell just 2.1 km short of the moon, Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to see it as a failure. "I can proudly say that the effort was worth it and so was the journey," the PM told the nation from the ISRO Control Centre in Bengaluru.

Get the full coverage of PM Modi's speech here: 

Chandrayaan-2 HIGHLIGHTS: 'We will succeed, no one can stop India'

TOUCHDOWN UPDATES:

• 3.45 AM: Deviprasad Karnik, scientist ISRO, on being asked if Vikram Lander has crashed: Data is being analysed. We don't have any result yet. It takes time. We are not sure.
   
• 3.10 AM: Ups and downs are part of life, says PM Modi while consoling ISRO scientists.
   
• 2:45 AM: Communication lost with Vikram at 2.1 km from the lunar surface.
   
• 2:32 AM: ISRO Chief K Sivan briefing PM Modi on the status of landing of Vikram.
   
• 2:19 AM: PM Modi to ISRO scientists: Hope for the best, our country is proud of you.
   
• 2:11 AM: ISRO says communication with Lander lost, data being analysed
   
• 2:07 AM: ISRO establishes radio signal with Vikram
   
• ISRO awaits signal from Vikram.
   
• Tense situation at ISTRAC as no signal from lander for now.
   
• Vertical descent to begin soon.
   
• Rough braking phase successfully completed, phase 2 begins from 5km altitude.
   
• Vikram lander's velocity drops to 730 mps. Rough braking phase to begin soon.

• Vikram lander's velocity reduction happening as planned, It drops to 1300 mps under 4 minutes.
   
• Vikram lander starts final descent.
   
• You can now watch the landing live on the official Twitter, Facebook and YouTube handle of ISRO.
   
• PM Modi arrives at the ISRO centre. He will join other VIPs at MOX-2.

• The exact spot for landing would be determined only minutes before the landing.
   
• The Pragyaan rover is expected to roll out between 5.30 am and 6.30 am. 

Security personnel stand guard at the command centre | EPS

• 70 students including 10 from Bhutan have made it to the Mox-2 Centre to watch the historic landing live.

IN PHOTOS | Timeline of events in Chandrayaan 2's epochal mission to moon

• There would be a state of a near-complete blackout for a couple of hours after the landing. This is because the landing would cause the dust on the lunar surface to rise due to the moon's  low gravity, and would take a lot of time to settle down. 

The Control Centre at ISTRAC, Bengaluru | EPS

• The lander Vikram will descend on the moon at the speed of 1.6km per second till it reaches a point beyond which it will move even slower at two metres per second. Scientists have given sufficient buffer time and have scheduled between 1:30 am and 2:30 am for the touchdown of the lander.
   
• Jeff Bezos tweets:

Rooting for team India. Good luck, India! #Chandrayaan2 https://t.co/iWWSqPs4nz

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) September 6, 2019

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• ISRO scientists will not resort to remote manual control of the lander while it makes the descent to the lunar surface. Instead, the lander Vikram will manage its own landing in an automated mode, using its on-board sensors to guide it to the perfect landing spot.