Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh today said, the exclusive findings and inputs of Chandrayaan-3 will benefit the entire World Community.
Speaking to the media after the Chandrayaan-3 mission achieved another historic feat when the “Vikram” lander module of the spacecraft, carrying the Pragyan rover, successfully detached itself from the propulsion module in its onward lunar journey, Dr Jitendra Singh said, even though the USA and the then USSR had started their Space journey long before us and America also landed a human being on the surface of Moon in 1969, it was nevertheless our Chandrayaan that brought home the pictures of water on the surface of Moon and startled the entire world including the Americans. We always heard imaginary fiction and asked ourselves whether there were any people living on the Moon, but for the first time Chandrayaan’s findings prompted the world community to find scientific answers to these mysteries, he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that India will be the fourth country in the world to achieve this feat after the United States, Russia, and China, but India will be the only country in the world to land on the lunar South Pole.
Dr Jitendra Singh expressed confidence that the Mission is designed in such a way that there will be a safe landing of Chandrayaan-3 on 23rd August, 2023 between 5.30 to 6.00 PM. He said, every Indian and the whole world is watching every moment and waiting with bated breath for the final outcome.
Dr Jitendra Singh told the media persons that Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission of Chandrayaan-2 and is aimed to demonstrate India’s capability in soft landing and roving on the surface of the Moon or the Lunar surface. The complex mission profile, he said, required for the Spacecraft to enter the Moon’s orbit has been executed very precisely. After the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the Moon, the rover, which has six wheels, will come out and is expected to work for 14 days on the Moon. With the support of multiple cameras on the rover, we will be able to receive images, he said.
Giving full credit to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing an enabling environment for Space workers and taking path-breaking decisions, like unlocking the Space sector for Public Private Partnership (PPP), Dr Jitendra Singh said, based on the current trajectory of growth, India’s space sector could be a 1 trillion US Dollar economy in the coming years.
Elaborating further, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the primary objectives of Chandrayaan-3 mission are threefold, a) to demonstrate Safe and Soft Landing on Lunar Surface; b) to demonstrate Rover roving on the moon, and c) to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.
The Minister recalled that the first in the series of Chandrayaan, namely Chandrayaan-1, is credited for having discovered the presence of water on the surface of the Moon, which was a new revelation for the world and even the most premier Space agencies like the USA’s NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) were fascinated by this discovery and used the inputs for their further experiments. Chandrayaan-3, he said, will be operating at the next level. The Spacecraft will use Launch Vehicle Mark-3 developed by ISRO for its launch, he added.
Earlier, the mission was launched on 14 July 2023 via the GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota at 2:35 PM and successfully launched the Chandrayaan-3 into orbit.
