The mission was launched on 22 July by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).

Nasa has expressed its interest in teaming up with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to explore the solar system following the latter’s effort to soft-land the Vikram module on the Moon’s South Pole.

ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module lander lost communication with ground stations in the last 2.1-km of its 34km descent on Saturday.

The spacecraft was launched on 22 July through the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).

It left the earth’s orbit on 14 January following a manoeuvre called the Trans Lunar Insertion.

ISRO carried out TLI so that the module can be placed on a ‘lunar transfer trajectory’.

However, ISRO’s plan to soft-land the module on the uncharted South Pole did not go according to plan on Saturday.

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In a tweet on Saturday, Nasa said: “Space is hard. We commend ISRO’s attempt to land their Chandrayaan-2 mission on the Moon’s South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together.”

According to Nasa, only 50% of the lunar missions involving landing on the Moon’s surface have succeeded in the last six decades.

Former Nasa astronaut Jerry Linenger was quoted by PTI as saying that the lessons learnt from this ‘bold attempt’ will help India in its later missions.

Linenger said: “We should not be too discouraged. India was trying to do something very, very difficult. In fact, everything was going as planned as the lander came down.”

According to Nasa, the last 60 years have seen only 50% of the lunar missions successfully land on the lunar surface. There have been 109 lunar missions since 1958, and only 61 of them have been successful.