Love the ride you’re taking us on: Chandrayaan-2 enters lunar orbit; Anand Mahindra celebrates on Twitter

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-2 mission, on Tuesday, inched closer to its goal of landing on the south polar region of the Moon. ISRO said it successfully maneuvered Chandrayaan-2 into lunar orbit, nearly a month after it left Earth.

As it entered the lunar orbit, ISRO chief K Sivan - who said that their hearts almost stopped during the 30 minutes of the moment - announced that lander Vikram will make a soft landing on the Moon on September 7. The lander was named after the Father of the Indian space program, Vikram Sarabhai.

ISRO's tweet sharing the news saw Twitter burst into celebration.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has reportedly been extended an invitation to witness Chandrayaan-2's landing, congratulated the team behind the mission, calling it an 'important step in the landmark journey to the Moon'.

PM Modi is reportedly determined to launch a manned mission into space by 2022.


Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called the milestone 'yet another significant achievement for our scientists'.


Mahindra Group boss Anand Mahindra, who has been actively following and tweeting about the mission, took to the micro-blogging site to say that 'the great Lunar adventure continues'.


Quoting ISRO's tweet, he wrote, "And the journey is the destination, @isro. We love the ride you’re taking us on. Don’t ever cease your exploration...Next stop, Mars..."


Netflix India indulged in wordplay, quoting Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Ganesh Gaitonde from 'Sacred Games'.


Insurance firm Acko also celebrated the milestone with a tweet.


The project, led by two women scientists, M Vanitha and Ritu Karidhal, saw Chandrayaan-2 being launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, on July 22, after an initial delay. It was launched on India's most powerful rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) MkIII.

The spacecraft used in the mission comprises an orbiter, a lander and a rover almost entirely designed and made in India. The orbiter has a mission life of a year and will take images of the lunar surface.


The mission is aimed at helping scientists understand the origin and evolution of the Moon by conducting detailed topographical studies, mineral analyses and a host of other experiments.

About $140 million was spent on preparations for the probe's mission - a much smaller price tag compared to similar operations by other countries.

India's first lunar mission in 2008 - Chandrayaan-1 - did not land on the Moon, but carried out a search for water using radar.

India also has ambitions to land a probe on Mars. In 2014, India became only the fourth nation to put a satellite into orbit around the Red Planet.

(With inputs from AFP)

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The Chandrayaan-2 launch is expected to take place today. Its postponement last week is reminiscent of other times when reaching the final frontier was delayed.


In Pic: A view of the Chandrayaan-2 on board GSLVMkIII-M1 at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Nellore district.

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(Image: www.nasa.gov)

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(Image: www.spacex.com)

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(Image: www.isro.gov.in)

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(Image: global.jaxa.jp)

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(Image: www.nasa.gov)

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