It was September 2019 when India cried with then ISRO chief K Sivan as the premier space agency lost contact with the moon lander Vikram minutes before it was due to touch down near the lunar south pole. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugged Sivan and consoled him, he had a message for all heartbroken Indians — “In our glorious history, we have faced moments that may have slowed us but they have never crushed our spirit. We have bounced back again and gone on to do spectacular things. This is why our civilisation stands tall. As important as the final result is the journey and the effort.”
Four year later, it’s the Wednesday that India has been waiting for. As ISRO once again attempts to achieve a soft landing on the surface of the Moon with the Chandrayaan-3 mission, crores of eyes will be glued to TV and mobile screens with prayers on all lips for the success of the ambitious manoeuvre which will catapult India into the league of space powers.
As Chandrayaan-3 cruised and orbited through space to reach within sniffing distance of the Moon, ISRO’s official social media handles took an informal approach to keep millions of people glued to their screens. Interspersing their tweets and posts with an occasional “Welcome buddy!” and “Thanks for the ride, Mate!”, ISRO’s social media handles occasionally departed from using just technical terms to give updates about India’s ambitious Moon mission Chandrayaan-3.
News18 joins India in keeping our fingers crossed for the ambitious mission and brings to you an easy reckoner to keep up with the moon mission:
• What Will Chandrayaan-3 Lander and Rover Do After Touchdown? Processes and Key Tasks Explained
Shortly after the touchdown, one side panel of the Vikram lander will unfold, creating a ramp for the Pragyan rover. The six-wheeled Pragyan with a national flag and ISRO logo will descend from the landed on the lunar surface after four hours and move at a speed of 1 cm per second.
• Scientists Won’t Have Control of Chandrayaan-3 During Soft-Landing: Here’s How Computers, AI Guide Touchdown
The entire landing process of Chandrayaan-3 during the critical 15 minutes of descent will be guided by computer logic that has already been fed into the lander’s computers, guidance and control navigation systems.
• Complete Timeline of Chandrayaan 3 Mission: Key Milestones and Journey So Far Explained
The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole.
• Chandrayaan-3 to Make History with Soft-Landing on Moon’s Surface Today | About ISRO’s Lunar Mission In Pics
See how if successful, India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.
• Chandrayaan-3: Chennai Techie Behind Chandrayaan-2 Debris Discovery Back in Action
Chennai-based software developer Shanmuga Subramanian is renowned for his 2019 feat of pinpointing the debris from the Chandrayaan-2 mission’s Vikram lander when it had missed the eyes of both NASA and ISRO experts.
• Chandrayaan-3 Lander Begins Solo Journey to Moon’s South Pole. What to Expect | Explained
The spacecraft revolving around the moon completed its penultimate step and separated the 2,148 kg propulsion module from the lander which sits atop it.
• ‘Even God Won’t Deny Success…’: Former ISRO Chief G Madhavan Nair Explains Chandrayaan-3’s Moon Quest
Explaining why India chose the South Pole, Nair said there were two reasons — presence of large quantity of water and limited disturbance which may help get some idea about the origins of the Moon and Earth
• Prakash Raj Faces Criticism for ‘Mocking’ Chandrayaan-3 Mission, Clarifies Later ‘Hate Sees Only Hate’
Actor Prakash Raj landed in hot water as he shared a cartoon of a man in a vest and lungi pouring tea and wrote, “First picture coming from the Moon by #VikramLander Wowww #justasking.”
• As Russia’s Luna-25 Crashes, Eyes on Chandrayaan-3 as it Heads to Moon’s South Pole for Historic Touchdown
With almost half the resources and funds as that of major spacefaring nations, experts believe ISRO has a unique opportunity to make this landmark achievement
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