US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti visited the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru on Friday and held discussions with ISRO Chairman Somanath.
| Photo Credit: special arrangement

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman S. Somanath, on Friday (May 24), called upon the industry to invest more in the space sector.

Delivering the keynote address at the US-India Space Cooperation Conference said, “Our big industry houses need to put in more effort in the space sector. They are doing a great job in infrastructure building, industrial ecosystems, and the defence sector. But in space, there has not been a great stride by any big industry till now.”

Mr. Somanath cited the example of ISRO’s commercial arm, NewSpace India Ltd, inviting Indian industry partners to manufacture the space agency’s heaviest launcher, Launch Vehicle Mark 3 (LVM3).

“This is precisely the approach to build such an investment-heavy rocket as the production cost is also very, very high for such rockets. But then if you create the capability in India through industrial, public partnership, we should be able to produce large numbers, break down the cost of the production and then make it available to the global launch service community,” Mr Somanath said.

Mr. Somanath also stressed the need for international space cooperation as India is embarking on multiple missions, including sending an Indian astronaut to the International Space Station, setting up India’s own space station by 2035, and landing on the moon.

“As all of you know, to achieve such very, very critical targets, I think we need partners and the participation of many, many people who are legendary leaders in this space domain,” Mr. Somanath said.

US envoy visits ISRO HQ

The US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, visited the ISRO headquarters on Friday (May 24) and discussed various issues pertaining to space cooperation between the two countries with Mr. Somanath.

“The discussions highlighted both countries’ mutual interests and shared goals in advancing space science, technology, and the space economy. Ongoing associations through various Joint Working Groups, Artemis Accord, NISAR, and the use of the Laser Reflectometer Array on Chandrayaan-3 were also discussed,” ISRO said.

ISRO added that other significant discussions included NASA’s participation in India’s proposal for a G-20 satellite for environment and climate change, an advanced imaging spectrometer satellite as a follow-up mission for NISAR, encouragement of cooperation between commercial companies from both countries for quicker and more effective outcomes, and use of Gaganyaan cargo module as an option for transfer of cargo to the International Space Station. The US Ambassador also proposed a QUAD satellite, ISRO said.

A view of the Indian Institute of Science building in Bengaluru. file photo
| Photo Credit: PTI

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath is among the five outstanding scientists and engineers who have been selected to receive the distinguished alumni awards of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) for the year 2023.

The annual awards recognise exceptional contributions made by IISc alumni to their profession, society and the Institute. The nominations received are evaluated by a committee chaired by the Director of IISc.

Apart Mr. Somanath, this year’s awardees include D.N. Prahlad, Prof. K.K. Ramakrishnan, Prof. Mrinalini Chatta Rao and Dr. Dheepa Srinivasan. The awardees will be honoured at a ceremony to be held in December 2023.

Glory of Chandrayaan-3

Under Mr. Somanath’s leadership, ISRO carried out the third Indian lunar exploration mission named Chandrayaan-3, making India the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and the fourth country to demonstrate a soft landing on the moon.

He previously served as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre as well as the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, both in Thiruvananthapuram.

Pioneering development of hardware and software products

Mr. D.N. Prahlad is the founder of Surya Software Systems Private Limited, Bengaluru. Prior to founding Surya, he played a key role in the growth of Infosys Technologies.

He is currently the Non-Executive Chairman of Surya Software Systems Private Limited, Surya Financial Technologies Private Limited and Surya Digitech Private Limited. He pioneered the development of indigenous hardware and software products for global markets in the pre-liberalisation era of the country.

Building the internet

Prof. K.K. Ramakrishnan is currently Distinguished Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, USA. He has published over 250 papers and has 173 patents in his name.

He has made immense contributions to solving fundamental problems in building the internet, specifically in network interface design, congestion control, network virtualisation, and operating system support, impacting nearly all network adapters and operating system designs in the world today.

Researching molecular basis of cell signalling

Prof. Mrinalini Chatta Rao is Professor Emerita at the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.

She has pioneered research on elucidating the molecular basis of cell signalling, specifically on intestinal epithelial ion transport in health and diseases such as cystic fibrosis. She has also contributed to the most definitive textbook in the field of gastroenterology.

35 patents, 50 technologies

Dr. Dheepa Srinivasan is Chief Engineer at the Pratt & Whitney R&D Center on the IISc campus. She has over 35 patents in her name, and has developed more than 50 technologies and process applications that are now running in several gas turbines and steam turbines.

She is a pioneer in the area of metal 3D printing or additive manufacturing, and has developed several applications for metal laser additive manufacturing.

“We are extremely proud of the exemplary and meaningful contributions that these distinguished alumni have made to science and technology, as well as society. We hope that the stories of these alumni resonate as a source of inspiration for the entire IISc community,” Prof G Rangarajan, director, IISc said.

Thiruvananthapuram:

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman S Somanath on Tuesday expressed his wish for increased female representation in the nation’s space missions.

He said this desire echoes the sentiments of the nation, including that of the Prime Minister.

During an event at the Pournami Kavu temple here, where Somanath initiated children into the world of letters as part of the Vidyarambam ceremony on Vijayadasami, he shared his expectation of seeing more female astronauts in ISRO’s ambitious Gaganyaan mission.

Somanath clarified that as astronauts had already been selected and trained, the participation of women won’t be feasible in Gaganyaan’s inaugural mission, which aims to send humans to space and bring them back safely to Earth.

However, he expressed optimism of greater female involvement in future Gaganyaan missions.

“More women astronauts in space missions is part of my wish list, and I only echoed the voice of the nation, including that of the Prime Minister,” he told PTI.

On Sunday, the ISRO chairman had said the space agency prefers woman fighter test pilots or female scientists for its much-awaited human space flight programme-Gaganyaan- and it is possible to send them in future.

He had also said ISRO would send a female humanoid – a robot that resembles a human – on its unmanned Gaganyaan spacecraft next year.

The ambitious mission aims to send humans into space on a Low Earth Orbit of 400 km for three days and bring them safely back to Earth.

“No doubt about it…but we have to find out such possible (women) candidates in the future,” Somanath told PTI over phone in response to a query.

Acknowledging his spiritual inclination, the ISRO Chairman engaged in prayers on Vijayadasami day.

After completing his prayers at the temple on Tuesday, Somanath sat down for more than 30 minutes to help toddlers write their first letters to mark the beginning of their education.

Somanath justified his participation, saying the ceremony has got nothing to do with religion but is only considered as the initiation to education.

“Alphabets are worshipped in this temple. We can see the alphabets of the Malayalam language displayed as Gods and Goddesses here and worshipped. So they belong to us as knowledge,” Somanath said.

He said on the day of Vijayadasami, children are introduced to the domain of knowledge by gurus, who have already acquired something.

“So when they transfer that knowledge to the children, it is a blessing. So we transfer the blessing to them so that they can become great in the years to come,” the ISRO chief said.

He said it is a blessing of spirituality from the gurus to the children to help them learn and understand about the whole universe.

Former ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair and Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director Unnikrishnan were also present in Pournami Kavu to help the children with Vidyarambam.

Shashi Tharoor, MP, took part in the Vidyarambam ceremony at Sree Saraswathy Devi Temple in Poojappura.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

S. Somanath, Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), attributes the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission to the moon to “the result of the hard work of thousands of people in ISRO”, the “rigour of the reviews”, and “corrective action taken meticulously.”

In an interview with T.S. Subramanian in Bengaluru, Dr. Somanath asserted that the launch of the LVM-3 rocket on July 14 from Sriharikota and its placing the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into its earth-bound orbit was the “most critical event” of the mission. He also spoke about the significance of the hop test conducted with the Vikram lander on the moon, said that “we are in the process of thinking about” a sample return mission from the moon, and shared his thoughts on the Aditya-L1 mission.

Question: How confident were you about the Chandrayaan-3 mission’s success? What were the contributing factors that led to the success – to the lander Vikram soft-landing on the moon and the rover Pragyan sliding down from Vikram?

Answer: There were many. The first and foremost is Chandrayaan-2’s unsuccessful attempt itself. When there is an unsuccessful attempt, it gives a lot of information. The analysis of that event gave us so [many] additional insights which were not available in the Chandrayaan-2 time frame itself. We understood the deficiencies very well. There were multiple deficiencies. It was a chain of events that caused the failure. In any rocket mission, we make sure that one event does not propagate. If one event propagates and results ultimately in failure, it means the protection mechanisms you had planned are not functioning.

There were at least five different events that culminated in the failure. There were windows left for the failure to propagate.  Once we understood them, we looked at what more could happen in similar lines. Once they were understood, we devised a set of tests that were much more rigorous and involved than what we did earlier. All these tests were done without a single item being dropped. All the tests’ results were reviewed and analysed, and corrective action taken meticulously. It took almost four years of work to be done. That is why there was such a long gap between Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-3.

You know every success comes not (repeat not) out of review or checks but it is the work of the people… So you have to challenge them. Unless you challenge them, unless they feel insecure, they will not do a great job. Complacency is dangerous. My job was to create an awareness about themselves… You have to stir them, challenge them. This is what we did.

Last time [during the Chandrayaan-2 mission], we had a problem with the software; we had problems with algorithms; we had problems with hardware; and we had problems with implementation. There was inadequacy of thrust.

Was the removal of the central, fifth engine in the lander a contributing factor to Chandrayaan-3’s success? Originally, there were only four engines in Chandrayaan-2 but a fifth engine was added. This additional fifth, middle engine in Chandrayaan-2 did not perform well. Time was running out. Fuel was running out.

No, no. I will explain. It had nothing to do with the failure or success of the fifth engine. The fifth engine was necessary in [the lander of] Chandrayaan-2 because only that much thrust was necessary. Only the central engine was used for the final landing. If you have four engines, a fifth engine is a possibility. A central engine was necessary in Chandrayaan-2 because the thrust of that engine matched with the thrust of the mass of the craft. But when it came to Chandrayaan-3, the mass of the craft was 250 kg more. A single engine would be unable to sustain such a mass. So you have to fire two engines.  When you have to fire two engines, four is a better configuration. The fifth engine was deleted in Chandrayaan-3 because the mass of the landing craft increased [and you needed two engines to fire]. The fifth engine in Chandrayaan-2 had nothing to do with the mission’s failure or success.

You had chosen a bigger area on the lunar surface to land now. Was it another contributing factor to Vikram’s successful landing?

Last time, we had an area of half a km by half a km to land. One of the biggest flaws last time was that we were trying to land exactly at a [particular] location. So the programme was trying to move the lander to that point and then land. Although it could have landed safely, it was not allowing. The software was trying to push it to that point. This was not really necessary.  We could have landed in a place away. We could have been left with no time to land.

We had a wider area this time. But a wider area was not possible last time because we did not have good images of the [lunar surface then]. We were actually imaging prior to the orbit and identifying the landing location from the previous orbit, sending it to the earth, and saying, “This is the location.”

This time, we already had the pictures from Chandrayaan-2. Using those pictures, we could choose a wider area. It was pre-planned.  This time, there was no taking pictures from the previous orbit and analysing them. So Chandrayaan-2 helped Chandrayaan-3 to land safely. A wider area of 4.5 km by 2.5 km was selected this time. We were supposed to land in the middle of it. We landed within 300 metres of it. 

You listed five “critical events” during the entire Chandrayaan-3 mission. They were the launch of the LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) rocket and its putting Chandrayaan-3 first into earth-bound orbit; the propulsion module with the lander being put into trans-lunar orbit; the propulsion module being captured by the moon’s gravity; the separation of the lander from the propulsion module; and the lander Vikram soft-landing on the moon. In your estimate, which was the most critical of these five events?

Undoubtedly, it was the launch.

But the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark 3) rocket had had six successful flights in a row already.

People take it for granted that the launch is just a routine affair. But the launch is much more complex than even the Chandrayaan-3 satellite which is such a simple, upper stage of the PSLV only. But it has a little more sensors and software. That is all. But a rocket is much more complex. It has to go through the atmosphere, do the turning, do the work under severe conditions, experience stress and strain, and reach the correct orbit. The number of systems [working in a rocket] is ten times more than that of Chandrayaan-3 craft. The propulsion, algorithms, gyros, mechanisms, sensors and so many complex events are taking place. Yet the rocket has to be successful. But people take it for granted. “It is all child’s play” [people think]. The good part is that we are doing the launch multiple times. If we do it again and again, we have the confidence. That is all the result of the work of thousands of people. Chandrayaan-3 is also such a result.

I consider the launch [to have been] the most critical event because there is no intervention in that. It is fully autonomous. There is no human intervention.

It is totally autonomous…

From lift off, you give the command, up to the injection of the satellite into orbit, there is no human intervention. But manoeuvres of Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft such as its trans-lunar injection, its being captured by the moon, Vikram landing on the moon, everything is with our intervention. All of these, we can intervene at any point. We can change the software. We can change the parameters. We can land appropriately. All these are possible except in the launch. That is why the launch is more critical.

Can you explain the expected behaviour and the actual behaviour of Vikram during the landing process?

Actually, the landing process is a very complex process. It is the reverse of the rocket taking off. The rocket takes off vertically and finally becomes horizontal.

It will become tangential to the earth. It will continuously take an arc from the lift-off to the injection of the satellite into orbit. 

During the landing process, the lander has to come down from a high velocity to low velocity. In this case, the lander could have come down straight away. But we did not plan it like that. In this mission, in-between, we introduced a lot of check-points. From 30 km, it will come down to 7.80 km, then it will come down to 150 metres. It will then do certain checks. The lander will hover at these points. This hovering was necessary to do certain instruments’ verification. [For instance) Altimeter. In the general soft-landing, all these are not necessary. It made the whole landing process a little more complex. It is longer than needed. It will consume more fuel.

After the confidence building resulting from Chandrayaan-3, the landing process in the future missions will be smoother and without break. It will be continuously coming down from one point to another. It will be more fuel-efficient and faster.

One of the problems during the Chandrayaan-2 landing was the way of landing. We had one section called the rough braking phase, then the camera coasting phase, the fine braking phase and the terminal descent phase. Conversion into four different phases is not really necessary. It can seamlessly continue.

We did a scenario of continuous landing in case of some emergency where the sensors need not come into picture. In future missions, we will do [it] like that. This landing in Chandrayaan-3 followed exactly what we had planned. The velocity reduction, orientation changes etc. happened perfectly. It did the hovering exactly. In the last 150 metres, we had some time to study the lunar surface and see whether there were any boulders. The lander moved a little bit. We identified that it moved a little bit to see whether it was clear of rocks. It landed very safely. Almost all the sensors worked… So I must say it was a perfect landing.

What is the significance of the hop test done by the Vikram lander? It hopped 50 cm and it rose a little bit in the air.

In any mission, the craft which goes to the moon or Mars should come back. Otherwise, it will be a one-way mission. The vehicle is supposed to do a two-way mission. If you do a two-way mission, the vehicle will take off from the moon’s surface and come back to the earth. When you take off from the moon’s surface, it is a different algorithm. It is not a landing algorithm. It is a rocket algorithm. It has to go into orbit. From the orbit, it has to restart and come back to the earth. If you do it, the cycle is complete

When human beings go to the moon, all these have to be achieved. We have to learn all these in steps. I thought that after this primary mission goes off well, why don’t we start trying it out [the hop test]. It is new thinking. A week after the landing, we mooted this idea. Once all the mission’s objectives were met, why can’t we do some trials … to see whether it is possible. But we could not do it fully. If you take off, it can actually take off. There was no issue. But people were scared. The lander can fail. It can topple. It should not jeopardise the mission. After a week, the daylight will come. So we decided that we will do a short pulse.

A short jump?

Yes, a short jump. If you don’t stop, it will continue. The hopping is to show it rises to a certain height, it can land and to see whether our control systems, propulsion systems and sensors have worked well. This is the trial here. It worked reasonably well.

Is it a trial for the sample-return mission?

Chandrayaan-3 configuration cannot work for a sample return mission. You have to design a new craft, a new approach. It requires more mass, a higher payload. Then a sample return mission is possible. The travel for coming back from the moon to the earth requires energy. We have to plan for that. We are in the process of thinking about it.

You have sent Aditya-L1 to study the sun’s corona, the solar flares, the solar winds etc. What made you choose the sun for study? Is it because “Without the sun, you cannot study the earth”?

The study of the sun is not a new thing. We have the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad. It has a research group which is focused on the study of the sun. We have a solar observatory at Udaipur. It is under the PRL. There are ground-based observations of the sun happening regularly. There are multiple institutions such as the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) and others concentrating on sun-related studies.

Once a small team of scientists is there, it is good to look at the sun. Then the question of developing the instruments to study the sun came up. Three years ago, a discussion on how to develop these instruments began… From the time of U R Rao [former ISRO Chairman], discussions have been taking place. The idea is good but somebody has to develop the instruments.

Vikram Sarabhai was interested in the study of the sun.

Many missions to study the sun had already taken place. They were done the world-over by the Americans, the Europeans and others. We now have a little more understanding of the type of instruments needed to be built. We decided that our instruments must be unique in their ability to observe the sun. That is how the seven instruments were identified for Aditya L1. Solar coronagraph was developed by ISRO and the IIA. It looks at the solar corona, solar mass ejection etc. They help us in modelling the corona.

IUCAA’s instrument is for ultraviolet radiation. They have reasonable expertise in it. The VSSC, the PRL and others built the remaining instruments. The Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), Thiruvananthapuram, looks at the sun’s particles, its low-energy and high-energy X-rays, particle emissions, its magnetic influence and so on.

The importance of Aditya L1 is that it actually connects the solar emissions to particle emissions to X-ray emissions to magnetic influence. So there is a chain of connected events. In other missions, these types of [connected] measurements are not done. You measure coronal mass ejections and no other correlated measurements. If you do correlated measurements and there is a magnetic influence happening, I can relate to coronal mass ejections. This means these measurements are inter-related. They help in long-term predictions of the impact of such emissions on our sun.

What is the current status of the propulsion module of the Chandrayaan-3 mission? And what is its SHAPE (Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth) payload doing?

The propulsion module is going around the moon in a 100-km orbit. Its SHAPE payload is observing the earth… That data is being continuously collected.

With the success of the Mars orbiter, Chandrayaan-3, and Aditya L1 missions, will ISRO be concentrating more on interplanetary missions? Will you ask the private companies to build and launch application satellites?

Nothing like that. Scientific missions have been done by ISRO only. It may not have commercial value. If commercial values are there, industries will be interested. Otherwise, going to the moon and doing the sun mission, who will be interested? They are national missions with a certain objective of growing a scientific pool within the country and creating a certain capability. It has to be publicly funded. It cannot be private.

Of course, tomorrow, there is asteroid-mining and commercial opportunities are there, private companies will be interested. Private companies cannot work without profitability.

Another point you mentioned is whether all application-oriented satellites will be launched by private companies. That may not be possible because it goes with commercial viability. If they are not commercially viable, they will not implement some of the technologies. We have to build advanced communication satellites, with R&D components. We will be building hundreds of satellites. We will look at [satellites with] synthetic aperture radars, which are scientific in nature than observation. Such things as strategic satellites, we will continue to build.

How do you view in totality the three Chandrayaan, the Mars Orbiter, and the Aditya-L1 missions?

Space has always been an inspirational domain for scientists who want to pursue a career in science, engineering and technology. Every young boy and girl will say that he or she wants to become an astronomer, astrophysicist, and so on. Their career will take them to many places. They are fascinated by celestial bodies… Space technology is such an inspirational domain. We also know it is a complex domain. For countries like India, there are questions being asked even today about its relevance. During Sarabhai’s time, there were a lot of such questions. These types of missions [to the moon, Mars and so on] will reduce the number of such questions.

Sonia Gandhi. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Congress on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of hogging the limelight after the success of Chandrayaan-3.

In a letter to the ISRO Chairman, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi said she was writing to him to let him know how thrilled she was by the ISRO’s magnificent achievement on Wednesday. “It is a matter of great pride and excitement to all Indians, particularly the younger generation,”Ms. Gandhi said, adding that the space research agency’s outstanding capabilities have been built up over decades.

Stating that the excitement and pride of the Chandrayaan-3 landing will “stay with us for a long time”, Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal targeted the Prime Minister on X (formely Twitter) for “hogging the limelight”.

“However, the PM must answer some for his hypocrisy. You were quick to come on screen and take credit after the landing, but why has your government failed so terribly in supporting the scientists and the ISRO,” he said.

The Congress leader asked as to why the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) engineers, who worked on Chandrayaan-3 launch pad, have not received their salaries for the last 17 months.

“Why did you cut the budget for such crucial missions by 32%? These are the heroes of our country, they run a world-class space research program, but you have no regard for their talent and hard work. To add insult to injury, you hogged the limelight when that moment was about the scientists’ achievements,” he added.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also shared several photographs of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi with doyens of India’s space programme such as Vikram Sarabhai to highlight the continuity in the country’s progress in the sector.

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A dish antenna is seen inside the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) facility on August 23, 2023 in Bengaluru.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

With Vikram, the lander module of Chandrayaan-3, successfully landing on the surface of moon on August 23, the focus has now moved to the rover in its belly, Pragyan.

The officials at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) are readying to roll out the rover, which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface during the course of its mobility.

“The Pragyan rover may come out in the next few hours or it may take one day also to come out depending on the conditions,” ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said.

He said that once out, the rover would carry out two important experiments. It has two payloads — the LASER Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). The objectives of the LIBS are to conduct qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis and to derive the chemical composition and infer mineralogical composition to further our understanding of the lunar surface.

The APXS will determine the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks around the landing site.

The team behind Chandrayan-3’s success

Soon after the ISRO achieved the historic feat of landing on the lunar south pole, Mr. Somanth introduced the key members who enabled India to achieve the task flawlessly.

P. Veeramuthuvel, Project Director, Chandrayaan-3, said, “It is a great moment of happiness, it gives me immense satisfaction on achieving this goal as Project Director of this mission. The entire mission operations from launch till landing happened flawlessly as per the timeline and we have become the fourth country to demonstrate the soft landing on the moon and the first country to go to the south pole of the moon.”

Sreekanth, Mission Director, Chandrayaan-3, said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be part of Chandrayaan-3 and as Mission Director, I would like to thank each and every team member who has supported in carrying out all the mission operations flawlessly.”

Calling it a memorable moment, Kalpana K., Associate Project Director, Chandrayaan-3 said, “We have achieved our goal flawlessly after rebuilding our spacecraft. It has been breath in and out for our team.”

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M. Sankaran, Director of U.R. Rao Satellite Centre, said, “Today we have achieved what we set out to achieve in 2019. It was delayed by four years but we have done it.” He was referring to the failed landing of Chandrayaan-2 in 2019.