The lunar leap

INDIA took a giant leap in the space domain on Wednesday as Chandrayaan-3’s lander module made a soft landing on the moon’s surface. Four years ago, it had been an agonising case of ‘so near and yet so far’ as Chandrayaan-2’s lander ‘Vikram’ had crashed into the lunar surface minutes before the scheduled touchdown, even as its orbiter had been deployed successfully. Thanks to the tireless efforts of ISRO scientists, ‘Vikram’ landed without a hitch this time. The make-or-break ‘17 minutes of terror’ passed off smoothly as the lander fired its engines at the right time and the right altitude, using the right amount of fuel.

Chandrayaan-2 might have been described as only partially successful, but its orbiter played a key role in easing the journey of Chandrayaan-3. Earlier this week, ISRO had established communication between the Chandrayaan-3 lander module and the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter. The latter’s ‘Welcome, buddy!’ message gladdened the entire nation, even as everybody kept their fingers crossed till the very end.

Becoming the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of the moon is a major milestone in India’s space history. It comes almost four decades after Wg Cdr Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to venture into space — with Soviet collaboration. The Mars Orbiter Mission, launched in November 2013, was an enormous feat for ISRO. Mangalyaan, which remained in the Martian orbit for around eight years, helped India join a select group of nations which had successfully explored the red planet. Up next is Gaganyaan, India’s maiden human space flight mission; the first test vehicle mission for the validation of the crew escape system is going to be undertaken shortly. There is no stopping India’s ambitious space programme. The joke is now surely on the New York Times, which had in 2014 published a cartoon of an Indian farmer, accompanied by a cow, knocking on the door of the Elite Space Club.

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