New Delhi, September 7: The heartbreaking shortfall of Chandrayaan 2 has emotionally hit various sections of the nation, particularly the Indian scientific fraternity. India was minutes away from becoming the first country to land close to the moon's south pole. Despite falling short, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has left the entire country proud, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Opposition leaders, as well as the entire nation, has resonated the sentiment by solidly backing the space research group. While ISRO has been unsuccessful this time, it is imperative to recall the agency's successes amid such tragic times.

List of Most Notable Achievements by ISRO

  • Aryabhatta Satellite (1975)

This was India's first satellite built entirely in India. Late former president and then a senior official at ISRO, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, had played a key role in the project which brought India's space activity out of the Soviet shadow.

  • Chandrayaan 1 (2008)

The predecessor of Chandrayaan 2 was sent to the space nearly 11 years ago, and became successful in allowing India to make its first-ever crash-landing on the moon. The mission extracted key topographical details related to the Earth.

  • Discovery of Key Bacteria Species (2009)

The Indian scientists succeeded in discovering three key species of bacteria, which were found to be highly resistant o the ultra-violet rays. The discovery was made in 2012 by the ISRO in Earth's upper stratosphere.

  • Mars Orbiter Mission (2013)

Also referred to as MOM, this was one of the most ambitious undertaken by the ISRO using PSLV-XL in 2013. The mission yielded into a success, was followed by the first mission to reach Mars next year.

  • Reaching Mars (2014)

    India became the first country to reach Mars in a single-attempt in 2014. Only three space research organisations - NASA, the European Space Program and the Soviet Space Program - have been able to reach the Mars.

  • Launching 104 Satellites Together (2017)

    The expedition involved the launching of 104 satellites in a single-day. Among countries which had outsourced their satellite launches to ISRO, included the United Kingdom, United States and Germany. The project ended up boosting communication in South Asia and Asia-Pacific region. 

Had Chandrayaan 2 been successful, India would had emerged as the first nation to make a soft-landing close to the moon's south pole. ISRO chief K Sivan said the spacecraft lost contact when it was barely 2.1 km away from the moon's surface.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2019 12:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).