Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the ISRO Headquarters at Bengaluru to witness the final descent of the country’s maiden unmanned mission to the moon Chandrayaan 2 on to the celestial body’s South Pole on Saturday, it was officially announced on Friday.
Modi will also be interacting with the winners of a quiz competition conducted for students of Class 8th to 10th across India during the event.
“As a Prime Minister who has a deep appreciation of science and its achievements, Modi’s visit to ISRO would be a boost to the morale of the Indian space scientists and an inspiration to the young to develop an innovative mind and inquiring spirit,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
Showing his personal interest in the Rs 978-crore Chandrayaan 2 mission, India’s most ambitious space programme to date, Modi termed it as “Indian at heart, Indian in spirit! What would make every Indian overjoyed is the fact that is a fully indigenous mission.”
The Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement that “the lander is scheduled to descend between 0100 to 0200 hrs Indian time on September 7 which will then be followed by the touch-down of the lander between 0130 to 0230 hrs Indian time, the PMO statement said
The final descent of Chandrayaan 2 will be livestreamed on https://www.facebook.com/pibindia as well as on https://twitter.com/PIB_India
The soft landing will be telecast live from 1.10 a.m on Doordarshan, webcast on ISRO website and streamed on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. ISRO Chairman K Sivan said today that things are progressing as per plan for the much-awaited event.
"We are eagerly waiting for the event. Everything is going according to the plan," Sivan said.
The touch-down of the lander is scheduled between 1.30 am and 2.30 am on Saturday, followed by the rollout of rover between 5.30 a.m and 6.30 a.m.
"Certainly there is lot of anxiety in the minds of the entire (Chandrayaan-2) team because it's a very complex operation and we are doing it for the first time," a senior official associated with the mission said on condition of anonymity.
"Everything... sensors, computers, command systems...has to work perfectly. But we are confident in the sense we have conducted a large number of simulations on the ground; it gives us the confidence it would go alright," the official said.
He described the soft-landing as "almost like placing a baby on the cradle", and said "there is certain amount of anxiety but there is no fear." As India attempts a soft landing on the lunar surface, all eyes will be on the lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan'.
The 1,471-kg 'Vikram', named after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme, is designed to execute a soft-landing on the lunar surface and to function for one lunar day, which is equivalent to about 14 earth days.
Chandrayaan-2's 27-kg robotic vehicle 'Pragyan', which translates to 'wisdom' in Sanskrit language, can travel up to 500 metres from the landing spot on the moon and leverages solar energy for its functioning.
"The lander carries three scientific payloads to conduct surface and sub-surface science experiments, while the rover carries two payloads to enhance our understanding of the lunar surface," according to ISRO.
'Vikram' will perform a series of complex braking manoeuvres to soft land in the South polar region of the moon between two craters, Manzinus C and Simpelius N, on September 7.
A few hours later, the rover will roll down from 'Vikram' and will explore the surrounding lunar terrain. Chandrayaan-2, a follow-on mission to the Chandrayaan-1 venture launched more than a decade ago, comprises an orbiter, lander (Vikram) and rover (Pragyan).
