PM Modi arrived in Bengaluru early Saturday morning after concluding his visit to South Africa and Greece.
PM Narendra Modi waves the Indian flag while watching the telecast of Chandrayaan-3’s successful soft landing on the Moon’s surface. Credit: PTI File Photo
The spot where Chandrayaan-3 landed on the Moon will be known as ‘Shivshakti’, announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday in an emotional address to ISRO scientists.
He further announced that the spot on the lunar surface where the Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints will be known as ‘Tiranga’. “This will be an inspiration for every effort made by India. it will remind us any failure is not final…,” he added.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath acknowledges the gathering before addressing the media after the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the moon. (PTI)
When the Indian space scientists initiated the Automated Landing Sequence for Chandrayaan-3 on Wednesday afternoon, they were confident that no matter what, they will successfully land India’s first spacecraft on the Moon.
Over the next one hour, they waited patiently till the clock struck 5.45pm. And then began the final countdown for the much-awaited powered descent. The spacecraft propelled towards the South Pole of the Moon along the path which was already planned for it.
MAJESTIC START: FIRST 11.5 MINUTES
It began with the pivotal ‘Rough Braking Phase’ — moving horizontally across the lunar surface, covering a distance of about 713 km in just 11.5 minutes. All its four throttle-able engines were fired, reducing the spacecraft speed from 1680 m/s to about 358 m/s. From nearly 30 km from the lunar surface, it quickly came down to 7.4 km precisely as planned, as the Lander successfully glided through its most crucial phase.
This was what the mission team was most worried about — the Lander had to switch from its horizontal to vertical movement within a few minutes. This was the point where the ISRO team had faltered last time, and they anticipated that it would not be easy this time either.
The tension in the control room was evident as scientists fidgeted and whispered. But they were certain that the spacecraft would make it. The plethora of simulations that they carried out over the last four years, factoring in all kinds of possible situations, ensured that it did. And the Lander had a majestic start as it glided through the moon’s weak atmosphere, completing 80 per cent of the journey successfully by the time it struck 5.56pm.
The toughest part of the powered descent was now over as scientists at ISRO’s Mission Operation Complex (MOX) clapped in appreciation and broke into smiles. ISRO chief S Somanath, who had been confident about the mission’s success right from the start, was now nodding quietly with eyes fixed on the screen.
The Lander oriented itself to a favourable altitude as the high-resolution camera aboard captured stunning images of the lunar surface which it was about to conquer and compared it with the on-board imagery looking for the precise landing point. The sensors functioned as planned as Chandrayaan-3 began calculating the altitude and velocity over the next three seconds to make calibrations for the final descent.
Japan’s ispace Inc hoped the Hakuto-R lander would touch down on the moon – but contact has been lost.
Tense scenes as moon landing fails
An attempt to land the first privately-funded spacecraft on the moon appears to have failed.
Japan’s ispace Inc hoped its Hakuto-R lander would touch down in the moon’s Atlas crater after a 100-day journey.
But after completing its final orbit of the moon, and decelerating from 6000 kilometres per hour to a walking pace a few metres above the surface, the signal from the lander was lost.
“We have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface,” said Takeshi Hakamada, CEO of ispace.
The lander carried two small moon rovers, Rashid, developed by the UAE and an innovative spherical rover, SoraQ, built in Japan.
While not necessarily breaking new ground from an exploration perspective, the mission was being closely watched.
Advances in technology – and the falling cost of space launches – have raised the realistic prospect of commercial exploitation of the moon.
