India has established itself as a powerful force in the field of space exploration and as a diversified and culturally rich nation. Under the leadership of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India has made outstanding progress in this difficult and fascinating area. Innovative missions, technological advancements, and substantial contributions to scientific research have all been hallmarks of India's venture into space.
After successfully landing a spacecraft near the unexplored south pole of the moon on August 23, 2023, India became the fourth nation (after the United States, the Soviet Union, and China) to achieve a controlled lunar landing. India's next cosmic quest is the sun. ISRO has announced that its first solar mission, Aditya-L1, will be launched on September 2 at 11:50 am IST from the Sriharikota space centre.
Lagrange Points, named after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, a French mathematician who first studied them in the 18th century, are locations in space where the gravitational pulls of two massive bodies, such as the Sun and the Earth, balance out, creating an area of equilibrium that a spacecraft can use to save fuel.
"A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the sun without any occultation or eclipse." This will provide a greater advantage in observing solar activities and their effect on space weather in real-time," says ISRO. India's first space-based observatory to study the sun, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft, will be launched using the PSLV-C57 rocket.
Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander records 70 degrees Celsius on moon surface
ISRO released a graph of the temperature variation on the lunar surface, and a senior scientist of the space agency expressed surprise over the high temperature recorded on the moon. The space agency released an update stating that the Vikram lander on Chandrayaan-3's Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) mission recorded the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole to comprehend the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface.
While speaking to the news agency, ISRO scientist B H M Darukesha said, "We all believed that the temperature could be somewhere around 20 to 30 degree centigrade on the surface, but it is 70 degrees centigrade. This is surprisingly higher than what we had expected."
PM Modi names Vikram's touchdown site as ‘Shiv Shakti’
PM Narendra Modi named two more places on the lunar surface during a visit to the Isro Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (Istrac) in Bengaluru, marking the fifteenth anniversary of India naming a location on the moon.
The location where Chandrayaan-3's Vikram successfully landed was given the name "Shiv Shakti," signifying the union of will and power for the benefit of humanity. Another point that was influenced by the Chandrayaan-2 lander was the name "Tiranga," which symbolises inspiration for India's space exploration and a message that failure isn't synonymous with setbacks. On November 14, 2008, the site where Chandrayaan-1’s lunar probe (MIP) had impacted was named "Jawahar Point" or "Jawahar Sthal", as notified to the International Astronomical Union (IAU). PM Modi also announced that August 23, the day Vikram landed on the lunar South Pole, will be celebrated as National Space Day.
In ‘Shiv’, there’s resolution for humanity’s welfare, and ‘Shakti’ gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions. This ‘Shiv Shakti Point’ of the Moon also gives a sense of connection from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari," said Modi, who landed in the city straight from Greece, en route to New Delhi, after attending the Brics summit in Johannesburg.
Terming the "touchdown moment" one of the most inspiring of this century, Modi said the entire world was witnessing and accepting the strength of India’s scientific spirit, technology, and temperament.
Modi emphasised the monumental achievement of Chandrayaan-3, celebrating the journey from being considered a third-world country to attaining the status of the fifth-largest economy and a first-world nation.
"India is on the Moon! We have our national pride placed on the moon," he said. "Institutions like Isro have played a huge role in this journey [taking the country] from the third row’ to the ‘first row. Our lander has firmly set its foot on the moon like ‘Angad’ (from the Ramayana). On one side is Vikram’s valour, and on the other is Pragyan’s bravery.
Behind every successful mission are 100+ women
K Kalpana, the associate project director of Chandrayaan-3, graced the dais as the sole woman during the post-touchdown event at Isro. However, she’s far from alone. Over 100 women have made "direct and significant" contributions to the prestigious mission, ultimately enabling Vikram’s soft landing on the lunar South Pole.
M Vanitha, the project director of Chandrayaan-2, played a pivotal role in the Chandrayaan-3 team, while Ritu Kadhidal, the mission director of the previous venture, was actively involved in project reviews, Isro chairman S Somanath said.
Women's involvement extends beyond the obvious. Women have been at the vanguard of Chandrayaan-3, according to Isro, making significant contributions to spacecraft configuration, realisation, and team management. From the initial stages of conception and design to testing and implementation, more than 100 women played significant roles in the mission.
Somanath underscored the collective nature of this triumph: "Each space programme has been a steadfast national mission, involving a select few directly but thousands indirectly or remotely. Every contributor plays a crucial role." With Chandrayaan-3, the participation expanded to include numerous academics, industries, and public sector undertakings (PSUs), showcasing a united effort.
"They played a key role in the assembly, integration, and testing of the spacecraft, the establishment and execution of ground segments for mission operations, and carrying out outlander navigation, guidance, and control simulations to assure the capability of the lander for an autonomous, safe, and soft landing,'' Isro said. Their contributions extend to the development and delivery of vital sensors such as the laser altimetre, laser doppler velocity metre, and lander horizontal velocity camera, crucial for navigation during the lander’s critical descent phase.
Chandrayaan-3 project cost £60 mn
Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Chandrayaan-3 project's estimated cost of £60 million is less than the budget for several Hollywood productions with lunar and space themes. He added that the country's plan is "quite different" from other nations' lunar missions because of the scientific study related to the project to determine whether hydrogen and oxygen are available on the moon's surface.
“The cost of Chandrayaan-3 is merely £60 million, whereas a Hollywood film on space and the moon costs more than £60 million. I don't see movies often nowadays, but I was told by someone that one or two big actors now charge £10 million per film (in Bollywood), much above the Rs 5 to 600,000 a star like Dilip Kumar charged for Devdas," he said. The experiments on Chandrayaan-3 started on the surface of the moon and will last for 14 days, the Union minister added.
World leaders congratulate India
The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 lander sparked jubilant reactions from India and around the world. Social media is flooded with wishes from leaders around the world. Nepal expressed happiness at the success of India in the latest space exploration, extended congratulations, and also wished to work in collaboration with India to share the benefits.
The Foreign Minister of the Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, congratulated PM Modi on the success of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission. As a South Asian nation and neighbour, we are proud of the successful landing of Chandrayaan 3 near the moon's south pole. This is a success for all of humanity! Opening new avenues for new areas of exploration, the Maldives foreign minister tweeted.
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Bill Nelson, congratulated India and ISRO for the smooth landing of Chandrayaan-3. Additionally, he applauded the India-US partnership on the Artemis Accords, which strives to create a shared vision through a useful collection of principles, rules, and best practices.
Pakistan's Fawad Chaudhry, the ex-Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Imran Khan government, congratulated ISRO on X. Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency, congratulated ISRO and India. South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated India, "This, for us, as the BRICS family, is a momentous occasion, and we rejoice with you. We join you in the joy of this great achievement."
Space collaboration with other countries
After Chandraayan-3's success, many countries are looking forward to collaborating with India on space missions. The ISRO has one more lunar mission on the cards in collaboration with the Japanese space agency, JAXA. This mission, called LUPEX, or Lunar Polar Exploration, is slated for 2024–25. LUPEX will explore the permanently shaded polar region of the moon, adding another layer of complexity to the operation. It will seek to study the region for the possibility of locating a long-term station in the area, like the International Space Station but on the Moon.
The strategic framework for cooperative human spaceflight is established when India and the US sign the Artemis Accords. The signing of the Accords is significant for the cooperative collaboration on cutting-edge space programmes and technology transfer, such as NASA's Artemis missions and ISRO's Gaganyaan.
Three countries - Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Singapore - have approached India for possible space collaborations. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that a few countries have approached India but refused to comment further. The landing will unlock new avenues of scientific discovery, shaping the future of lunar research, and India will now contribute in a big way to the world’s space community," Goyal said.
