India, Sept. 15 -- In spite of the opinions of certain narrow-minded people, who would shut up the human race upon this globe, as within some magic circle it must never outstep, we shall one day travel to the moon, the planets, and the stars, with the same facility, rapidity, and certainty as we now make the voyage from Liverpool to New York!

- Jules Verne

The Rs 978-crore Chandrayaan-2 mission, India's first attempt to land on the Moon's South Pole on September 6, 2019 accomplished 90-95 per cent of the mission objectives even though Vikram did a hard landing and is yet to establish contact with base station despite being spotted by the Orbiter.

In a statement, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said: "The success criteria ...