Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing: Story of ISRO spacecraft's Tamil connect and scientific payload
Chandrayaan-3 Moon Landing: India's third lunar space mission is the result of immense hardwork fo ISRO scientists. Ahead of the planned landing of Vikram lander and Pragyan rover, know about the Tamil connect of ISRO spacecraft. Another thing which makes Chandrayaan-3 special is the presence of the scientific payload onboard the propulsion module.
The Tamil connection of the Chandrayaan mission highlights the contribution of three scientists from Tamil Nadu. These three scientists helmed each of the crucial Moon missions of India's space programme. One of them is popularly known as the 'Moon Man of India'.
Mayilsamy Annadurai led the maiden Chandrayaan mission in 2008. Second scientist, M Vanitha led the Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019, and M Veeramuthuvel is heading the current Chandrayaan-3 Mission. After Chandrayaan-3’s lift-off on July 14 at 2.35 pm from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Veeramuthuvel rushed back to the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru to track the rocket.
He told the media that he would be able to say anything only after making sure that the landing module makes a soft-landing on the lunar surface – an exercise which is planned for August 23 at 6.04 PM. Other than the three scientists, people must know about the spacecraft's ‘SHAPE’ payload on the propulsion module. The acronym stands for Spectro-polarimetry of HAbitable Planet Earth.
It is an experimental payload onboard the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which will study spectro-polarimetric signatures of Earth in the near-infrared wavelength range, ISRO said. "It is the only scientific payload on the propulsion module of the Chandrayaan-3 mission," ISRO said. The scientific payload is the brainchild of the U R Rao
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