Chennai: Four days have gone since Indias first moon lander Vikram crashed on the lunar surface, but the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has gone silent about the likely cause of the breakdown.
Early on September 7, Vikram, while on its descent to soft land on the Moon's south polar region, apparently lost control and crash-landed there, snapping the communication links. Since then, there has been no official communication from ISRO as to the likely cause of the crash.
Like Vikram, the ISRO too has gone into a silent mode, avoiding the media except for a few brief comments by some officials to select journalists. "The likely cause of the failure should have been known to ISRO long back, given the data they should be having on their hand.
It is strange as to why the ISRO is silent," a former ISRO official told IANS preferring anonymity. Soon after the telemetry screen at the ISRO's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) centre in Bengaluru went blank early on Saturday, ISRO Chairman K. Sivan made a brief announcement.
He said the performance of the lander was as per the plan till it was 2.1 km away from its designated landing spot on the Moon's South Pole. The communication link got snapped after that.
