By Maitphang Syiem
13.7199 N 80.2305 E to 69.367 S, 32.348 E wondering what’s with the numbers, right? The numbers are the coordinates of Origin and Destination which defines an exhilarating space odyssey that took place on July 14, 2023 from 13.7199 N, 80.2305 E (SHAR launch pad 2) the origin and was successfully completed on the Aug 23, 2023 at 69.367 S, 32.348 E (Shiv Shakti, Lunar landing point) the destination. This year and month we are witnessing a maiden “National Space Day” celebration with the theme “Touching Lives while Touching the Moon” to commemorate the successful space odyssey to the lunar surface and it was on the Aug 23, 2023 that our great nation created history by becoming the first to land on the south pole of the moon and the fourth among the space faring nations to have made a mark on the lunar surface.
It’s indeed a proud moment for every Indian citizen and particularly for the scientific communities of this great nation. This achievement reminds us of great words spoken by the Father of Indian Space Research “There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flights. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society.”- (Late Dr Vikram Sarabhai). These words have translated to reality and we have become the leading nation in space technology and applications not just for the country but for nations in need of such capabilities. An undeniable fact is that much of the credit goes to the unwavering leadership of late Dr Vikram Sarabhai and company and one can say if it was not because of Dr Vikram Sarabhai’s undaunted spirit, things would have not become what they are today. His versatility not only gave us ISRO but PRL, IIM-A, and many more for the record. This “National Space Day” also signifies the unrelenting spirit of many great Indian minds from the scientific community who gave their best to take this nation forward.
Going back to the 1960’s it was a humble beginning from a fishing Village Thumba, Kerala at St Magdalene Church, where our former President late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who was an ISRO Scientist back then recalled in his book “My Journey: Transforming Dreams into Action,” how a Bishop Rev. Dr. Peter Bernard Pereira invited the team of scientists to the church service as they were in need of a place to start the space research station. The Bishop after the service said to the congregation “My children, I have a famous scientist with me who wants our church and our church land for the work of space science and research. Science seeks truth that enriches our human life. Spiritual preachers seek the help of the Almighty to bring peace to mankind. In short, what Dr. Sarabhai and I are doing is the same: seeking the Almighty’s blessings for human prosperity. Children, can we give them God’s abode for a scientific mission?” The church reverberated with a chorus of ‘Amen’ from the congregation and that place became the cradle of Indian Space Research. Back then Indian Space research activities were not a cakewalk but the steadfast leadership and company of great ignited minds never gave up to build ISRO to what it is presently. Furthermore, the recent Union Budget-2024-25 report indicated an 18% hike which implies that space research has an important share in national development. Ever since the inception of ISRO, the approach instilled by Dr Vikram Sarabhai has always been directed towards national development for the benefit of all Indians and the global community as a whole.
Speaking of Chandrayaan, it was a series of missions, and the inception started first during a meeting at the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 and subsequently with the Astronautical Society of India in 2000 and thereafter India’s Lunar mission started with the constitution of a National Lunar Mission Task Force by ISRO which spearheaded the mission. The first mission to the moon was Chandrayaan-1 launched on Oct 22, 2008. The mission was a remote sensing-based mission which had 11 scientific payloads and a probe. It was a successful mission in which lunar surface images were captured and interestingly those images taken are accessible from the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC) website, so anyone interested may perhaps visit the site.
Subsequently on July 22, 2019 Chandrayaan-2 was launched from Sriharikota, which carried an Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan). The Orbiter responded perfectly however the lander and the Rover could not make it. Chandrayaan-2 was aimed towards understanding the south pole of the moon and apparently many space faring nations have great interests in understanding the south polar region of the moon because of the speculation that there is a likely presence of ice water. This observation was first made from Chandrayaan-1 orbiter and it was confirmed by NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument, which was flying aboard India’s Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft.
However, Chandrayaan-2 mistakes were never a show stopper for the ignited minds of ISRO; the shortcomings were rectified and yet again on July 14, 2023 ISRO embarked on another lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 propelled by LMV3-M4 (Launch Vehicle 3 Mark 4) which carried Lander payload, The Rover payload soft landed on Aug 23, 2023. ISRO successfully demonstrated that India is capable of soft-landing, executing rover movement and conducting experiments on the lunar surface. Keeping the aforementioned facts aside let us also look into the nitty gritty of the entire subject, it is with a complete affirmation to say, we indeed have a strong aptitude with numbers, logic and scientific observations and in particular with Selenology (Astronomical Study of Moon) that dates back to ancient days and this have reflected that ISRO scientific community has an exceptional team of men and women with talents in physics, mathematics, mechanics, electronics, selenology and many more. We have heard of Nari Shakti as well and interestingly women scientists had a great role in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Kudos to all those women.
Furthermore, STEM (Science,Technology,Engineering,Mathematics) indeed has a profound place and the fact is that all of space explorations, have explicitly demonstrated the utilisation of STEM and the success of Chandrayaan -3 should be an inspiration for our young and ready to ignite minds to explore opportunities in many domains connected with STEM be it in the academics, business entrepreneurships, environment etc., to create equal opportunities for everyone. Chandrayaan-3 also reminds us of the collaborative approach. Ever since the inception of INCOSPAR, the erstwhile ISRO, many missions were executed with a spirit of inter-connectedness which we are witnessing till date. Indian Space Research projects have always been through a cordial collaboration and this unique attribute resonated the concept of “Vasudeva Kutumbakam” a Sanskrit phrase from the Maha Upanishads and Bhagavata Purana which tells us that the world is one family.
This “National Space Day” should also remind us of the spirit of Global Unity and Collaboration, Peaceful Existence, Inter-connectedness, Cultural understanding and respect. Let this National Space Day create the spirit of oneness, touching, inspiring and igniting our minds for national development and also for the welfare of Planet Earth and mankind.
(The writer is a Geo-spatial Science Expert)