A Pakistani astronaut has congratulated India even as Pakistan is uselessly criticising India despite the international community lauding Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) efforts behind Chandrayaan 2 . “I congratulate India and ISRO on its historic attempt to make a successful soft landing of the Vikram Lander at the South Pole of the Moon,” said Pakistani astronaut Namira Salim to a Karachi based magazine on Sunday. “The Chandaryaan 2 lunar mission is indeed a giant leap for South Asia which not only makes the region but the entire global space industry proud.” “Regional developments in the Space sector in South Asia are remarkable and no matter which nation leads—in space, all political boundaries dissolve and in space—what unites us, overrides, what divides us on Earth," she added. 

After Vikram Lander lost communication with orbiter just minutes before its scheduled landing on the Moon and at a moment when it was just 2.1 kilometre away from the lunar surface, international space agencies including NASA has lauded India's efforts. Saying that ISRO has inspired NASA, it hailed India's efforts. 

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ISRO spotted Vikram lander

ISRO Chairman K Sivan on Sunday said to ANI that they have spotted the location of Vikram Lander on the Lunar surface. Sivan also said that Chandrayaan 2's orbiter has clicked a thermal image of Vikram Lander. Sivan also told PTI that the Vikram's landing must have been a hard-landing. On September 7, India's moon mission Chandrayaan 2 was scheduled to make a soft-landing on moon's south pole with its Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. However, just minutes before the touchdown, communication with the lander was lost even as the Vikram lander was only 2.1 kilometres away from the lunar surface. Following the unfortunate loss of communication with the lander, ISRO chief said that attempts will be made to re-establish the communication with the Lander in the next 14 days. 

'Vikram Lander spotted on Lunar surface by Orbiter': ISRO to ANI

Vikram tilted, but in one piece

"It had a hard-landing very close to the planned (touch-down) site as per the images sent by the on-board camera of the orbiter. The lander is there as a single piece, not broken into pieces. It's in a tilted position," an ISRO official associated with the mission claimed to PTI.

"We are making all-out efforts to see whether communication can be re-established with the lander," the official said adding "An ISRO team is the on the job at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC)."

Chandrayaan 2 | 'Vikram must have done a hard-landing': ISRO to PTI

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