NE NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, AUG 23
ISRO Chairman S Somanath on Wednesday toasted the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, crediting it to the “pain and agony” of all the scientists who persevered on it, and expressed confidence that the space agency would similarly land a spacecraft on Mars in the coming years.
Acknowledging the contribution of a generation of leadership by the scientists of the country’s space agency for the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s success, he said this is an “incremental progress” and “definitely a huge one”.
- Becomes fourth nation after US, Russia, China to successfully land spacecraft on Moon
- With the hard work of our scientists we have reached there: PM
The journey to the Moon is tough and soft-landing is difficult for any nation to achieve today even with the advancement of technology, he said, pointing out that India achieved it in just two missions. Chandrayaan-2, the first mission with the objective of soft landing on the Moon had a narrow miss, while the Chandrayaan-3 mission was perfectly executed.
Chandrayaan-1’s objective was only to place an unmanned spacecraft in an orbit around the Moon.
“It (success of Chandrayaan-3 mission) gives confidence to configure missions to not only go to the Moon, but also to go to Mars, sometimes (perhaps) land on Mars, may be in future go to Venus and other planets…”, he said.
Undertaking the Chandrayaan-3 mission was difficult, he said. “We went through a lot of pain and agony”.
Key scientists behind Chandrayaan-2 were also part of the Chandrayaan-3 team, he said. “Most of the people who were with Chandrayaan-2 are with us helping us to do Chandrayaan-3.They are a part of this, they have gone through such an agony…” “…the technology that we have in Chandrayaan-3 is no less complex or inferior to any other technology that goes to the Moon. So, we have the best of the sensors of the world, best in class (equipment) in Chandrayaan-3”, he said, explaining that it was a completely ‘Made-in-India’ mission using world-class components.
#WATCH | Johannesburg, South Africa | Immediately after the success of Chandrayaan-3, PM Narendra Modi telephoned ISRO chief S Somanath and congratulated him. pic.twitter.com/NZWCuxdiXw
— ANI (@ANI) August 23, 2023
Conveying the greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the ISRO team, he said, “The Honourable PM called me and conveyed his greetings to each one of you and your family for the wonderful work you did in ISRO.” Speaking about the support from the government to pursue further space missions, both scientific as well as commercial, he said, “Thanks to him (PM) for the support he is giving to us for missions like Chandrayaan-3 and missions that are in the offing. That’s the great word of comfort that we are receiving for pursuing the inspirational work that we are doing for the nation.” The ISRO chief said the Prime Minister is “very, very clear about the long-term vision, and wants to make sure that we remain very, very dominant in the area of space exploration and science”.
Addressing the ISRO team at the Mission Operations Complex, he thanked all those who prayed for the mission’s success, and in particular named ISRO veterans like A S Kiran Kumar (former ISRO chief).
“They have been helping so much, they were part of the team to help them (team) to get the confidence and get the reviews done, and to ensure that nothing goes with any mistakes,” he said.
India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.
The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the 26 kg rover (Pragyan) made the soft landing near the south polar region of the Moon this evening.
Noting that this is the work of a generation of ISRO’s leadership and scientists, Somanath said, “This is the journey we started with Chandrayaan-1, continued in Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-2 craft is still working and doing a lot of communication work with us. All the team that contributed to building Chandrayaan-1 and 2 should be remembered and thanked, while we celebrate (the success of) Chandrayaan-3.” “This is an incremental progress and definitely a huge one,” he added.
India became the fourth nation after the United States, Russia, and China to successfully land a spacecraft on the Moon.
Soft landing refers to a controlled landing where the spacecraft lands gently on the surface of the Moon, using a combination of engines, thrusters, and landing gear without causing significant damage to the surrounding area or to itself.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
'India🇮🇳,
I reached my destination
and you too!'
: Chandrayaan-3Chandrayaan-3 has successfully
soft-landed on the moon 🌖!.Congratulations, India🇮🇳!#Chandrayaan_3#Ch3
— ISRO (@isro) August 23, 2023
“I reached my destination and you too!’,” ISRO tweeted seconds after the landing, adding “Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon.”
India is on the Moon, said ISRO chief S. Somanath said, while announcing the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3.
The lander and rover— Vikram and Pragyan—that have a mission life of one lunar day (about 14 earth days), will now study the Moon’s atmosphere and mineral composition, the spectral and polarimetric measurements of Earth from the lunar orbit, and conduct a series of experiments using the payloads Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere (RAMBHA) and Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA).
The mission, which seeks to demonstrate India’s technological capabilities and contribute to the scientific understanding of the Earth’s celestial neighbour, will allow ISRO to explore if there is water ice on the Moon.
The landing is indeed historic as the rugged terrain on the south pole of the Moon, with permanently shadowed areas, makes it extremely challenging to land the mission there.
A new dawn for India, says PM Modi
Historic day for India's space sector. Congratulations to @isro for the remarkable success of Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. https://t.co/F1UrgJklfp
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 23, 2023
“India’s successful Moon mission is not just India’s alone. This success belongs to all of humanity,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said while congratulating ISRO scientists for the achievement. He called it “a new dawn for India.”
“No country has reached there (the south pole of the Moon) before. With the hard work of our scientists we have reached there,” the PM said.
After watching live telecast of moon landing of Vikram lander, President Droupadi Murmu conveyed her congratulatory message to ISRO and everyone associated with Chandrayaan-3 mission. pic.twitter.com/Q5Yj4tq1kI
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) August 23, 2023
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday said that the landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface was “truly a momentous occasion” which happens once in a lifetime and it has made the whole country proud.
After watching live telecast of moon landing of Vikram lander, Murmu conveyed her congratulatory video message to ISRO and everyone associated with the Chandrayaan-3 mission.
“There are days when history is made. Today with the successful moon landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, our scientists have not only made history but also remade the idea of geography. It is truly a momentous occasion.
“The kind of event that happens once in a lifetime making India proud. I congratulate ISRO and everybody involved in this mission and wish them greater accomplishments ahead,” she said in the video message.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday congratulated Team ISRO and the scientific community on the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission.
“They have made the entire nation proud,” the CJI said. He said that it gave him immense pride as a citizen of “our great nation to witness the remarkable landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon”.
TN Chief Minister M K Stalin lauds ISRO Scientists
The successful lunar landing of #Chandrayaan3 brings an immense sense of accomplishment to Tamil Nadu. The three #Chandrayaan missions have been led by exceptional minds from Tamil Nadu – Mayilsamy Annadurai, M Vanitha, and now P Veeramuthuvel. Their dedication and expertise… https://t.co/ESTsTnZij5 pic.twitter.com/nUyUBoNLUv
— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) August 23, 2023
