lessons learned from India's bold attempt to soft-land Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on lunar surface will help country during its future missions,  former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger said on Saturday. Indian Research Organisation's (ISRO) plan to soft-land Vikram near Moon's south pole did t go as per script in early hours of Saturday, with lander losing communication with ground stations during its final descent. Linengar, who flew on Russian station Mir that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001 for five months, took part in live telecast of Chandrayaan-2 landing attempt on National Geographic Channel. "We should t be too discourd. India was trying to do something very, very difficult. In fact, everything was going as planned as lander came down," ex-NASA astronaut told PTI in an email interview.

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'ISRO's overall mission successful': Former NASA astronaut on Chandrayaan 2

Linenger ted that lander "unfortunately" never quite me it to hover point which is an altitude of about 400 metres above lunar surface. "...if it h me it to that point, and even if it h t succeeded beyond that, it would have been helpful because rar altimeters and lasers could have been tested. But if you step back and look at big picture, this (attempt) would obviously be very helpful for follow on missions," he said. An astronaut narrator and analyst, former NASA astronaut said overall mission has been very successful. In fact, orbiter will continue to downlink very valuable information for next year. And by all indications, all systems are good on orbiter, he said.

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About Chandrayaan 2 mission

Leninger also congratulated ISRO for attempting difficult lunar landing. "I look forward to watching complete success in future based upon lessons learned from this bold attempt," Linenger ded. Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched on July 22 by a Geosynchrous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III). Chandrayaan-2 craft began its journey towards Moon, leaving Earth's orbit, on August 14, after a crucial maeuvre called Trans Lunar Insertion or TLI that was carried out by Isro to place craft on "lunar transfer trajectory".On Saturday, September 7, orbiter of Chandrayaan 2 has been successfully placed, but ISRO lost communication with Vikram Lander which was supposed to land on moon surface.

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