Had got up at a half past 1, thanks to the alarm and the both of us sat glued to our television set to witness history being made, in the touchdown of the lunar lander 'Vikram' on the Moon's south pole, as part of the Chandrayan-2 programme. Time was ticking and the lander was descending with all the parameters ticking well.
But 2.1 kms short of the landing site, the lander had lost touch with the mission control much to everyone's mounting anxiety. Time seemed to stand still with us hoping like mad that the communication would be restored without delay so that we'd be privy to the shots of the lunar surface and the immediate surroundings of Moon's south pole.......
......Our hopes suffered a setback when it was announced that the communication had snapped and the state of the lander and the rover were not known. As we returned to bed, there was still a hope that we'd hear the good news - on waking up - that the communication had been restored and the Chandrayan-2 programme was proceeding as planned.
The message that I'd sent to my close friends in the morning, on What'sApp, highlighted my state of mind, "Felt sad after watching Chandrayan-2 broadcast. Would like to believe that the lander has landed and the rover has been released".
* * *
I would like to, now, quote Rajiv Tyagi's post from FB, at this juncture, to highlight the unique technological achievements of the ISRO by launching Chandrayan-2.
The Chandrayan-2 has been a spectacular success for many reasons......
(a) We have used a low power GSLV rocket, good enough to park a satellite in geosynchronous
orbit, but entirely out of the league of the US Saturn-V rocket engine, to catapult a space
into Moon orbit using the Earth's gravitation as the motive force. This is the triumph of
Mathematics over the brute force of a Saturn-V rocket. This is what scientific elegance is all
about.
(b) We have been able to develop the telemetry required to monitor and control 3-axis motion very
precisely in outer space, where telemetry signals, despite travelling at the speed of light, take
several seconds to traverse the distances involved........
(c) We have mastered injection of space vehicles into orbits of space objects other than our own
planet. This requires precise Mathematics and velocity control at great distances, to not spin
away from the orbit or not crash into other space objects.
(d) With Chandrayan-2, we have mastered command module and lander module separation and
autonomous operation of the lander module, thereafter.
(e) We have failed in landing the lander module due to what appears to be communications failure.
There is enough telemetry data to hopefully give us an insight into the reason for this failure
and set it right for our next shot at the Moon.
No, Chandrayan-2 is not a failure by a long shot. It is in fact, a spectacular success for Indian Science
and for the acquisition of a technology that is not available for love or money.
There is need for ISRO to disseminate more information on its programmes in an open source manner. Like NASA believes, the knowledge gleaned by ISRO should be the property of every Indian.
* * *
And meanwhile, I'm continuing to hope........
The orbiter is going around the Moon along a polar orbit, as programmed. It has high definition photographic facilities, thermal imaging and other attributes which should be able to locate the lander and the rover......and once having pin pointed them, re-establish communications with Mission Control, perhaps?
Tailpiece.
The presence of the Prime Minister at the ISTRAC at Bangalore, along with the children from across the country and Bhutan, must have been a great motivator for the scientists. His motivational talk and him consoling the weeping Chairman, ISRO showed a passionate professional being put at ease by a compassionate and matured leader! That image shall remain frozen in time!!
But 2.1 kms short of the landing site, the lander had lost touch with the mission control much to everyone's mounting anxiety. Time seemed to stand still with us hoping like mad that the communication would be restored without delay so that we'd be privy to the shots of the lunar surface and the immediate surroundings of Moon's south pole.......
......Our hopes suffered a setback when it was announced that the communication had snapped and the state of the lander and the rover were not known. As we returned to bed, there was still a hope that we'd hear the good news - on waking up - that the communication had been restored and the Chandrayan-2 programme was proceeding as planned.
The message that I'd sent to my close friends in the morning, on What'sApp, highlighted my state of mind, "Felt sad after watching Chandrayan-2 broadcast. Would like to believe that the lander has landed and the rover has been released".
* * *
I would like to, now, quote Rajiv Tyagi's post from FB, at this juncture, to highlight the unique technological achievements of the ISRO by launching Chandrayan-2.
The Chandrayan-2 has been a spectacular success for many reasons......
(a) We have used a low power GSLV rocket, good enough to park a satellite in geosynchronous
orbit, but entirely out of the league of the US Saturn-V rocket engine, to catapult a space
into Moon orbit using the Earth's gravitation as the motive force. This is the triumph of
Mathematics over the brute force of a Saturn-V rocket. This is what scientific elegance is all
about.
(b) We have been able to develop the telemetry required to monitor and control 3-axis motion very
precisely in outer space, where telemetry signals, despite travelling at the speed of light, take
several seconds to traverse the distances involved........
(c) We have mastered injection of space vehicles into orbits of space objects other than our own
planet. This requires precise Mathematics and velocity control at great distances, to not spin
away from the orbit or not crash into other space objects.
(d) With Chandrayan-2, we have mastered command module and lander module separation and
autonomous operation of the lander module, thereafter.
(e) We have failed in landing the lander module due to what appears to be communications failure.
There is enough telemetry data to hopefully give us an insight into the reason for this failure
and set it right for our next shot at the Moon.
No, Chandrayan-2 is not a failure by a long shot. It is in fact, a spectacular success for Indian Science
and for the acquisition of a technology that is not available for love or money.
There is need for ISRO to disseminate more information on its programmes in an open source manner. Like NASA believes, the knowledge gleaned by ISRO should be the property of every Indian.
* * *
And meanwhile, I'm continuing to hope........
The orbiter is going around the Moon along a polar orbit, as programmed. It has high definition photographic facilities, thermal imaging and other attributes which should be able to locate the lander and the rover......and once having pin pointed them, re-establish communications with Mission Control, perhaps?
Tailpiece.
The presence of the Prime Minister at the ISTRAC at Bangalore, along with the children from across the country and Bhutan, must have been a great motivator for the scientists. His motivational talk and him consoling the weeping Chairman, ISRO showed a passionate professional being put at ease by a compassionate and matured leader! That image shall remain frozen in time!!
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