Virat Kohli to Saina Nehwal, India's sports fraternity laud ISRO's efforts

Virat Kohli to Saina Nehwal, the whole of India's sports fraternity took to Twitter to praise the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for their efforts after India's mission to the moon got a major setback as they lost communication with Chandrayaan-2 lander Vikram 2.1 km away from the lunar surface.

In the early hours of Saturday, ISRO chairman K Sivan announced the news and mentioned that communication was lost a few moments before the lander was about to make a soft landing, as planned, on the South Pole region of the Moon.

"Vikram lander's descent was normal and as planned till 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication with Vikram lander was lost. Data is being analysed," Sivan said.

The Vikram lander was supposed to land on the surface of the moon between 1.30 AM and 2.30 AM after it got successfully separated from the Chandrayan-2 orbiter on September 2.

From early morning on September 7, the netizens took to social media and praised the ISRO for their effort and wished them for a better future. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself met the ISRO chairman and consoled him while the latter broke down in tears.

The Indian sports fraternity including the likes of Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir, Anil Kumble, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Geeta Phogat, Saina Nehwal took to Twitter and hailed ISRO for their spirit and effort. They also mentioned that the best is yet to come from India's space research organisation in the near future.

Here is what the eminent sports personalities had to say about ISRO on this difficult day: