James Mathew

India has splendidly made its way to the moon, and I am one among the 1.4 billion Indians celebrating this giant leap made by India on an unexplored challenging territory on the moon. Amidst this ecstasy, the entrepreneur in me celebrates the fact that Chandrayaan’s journey to the moon started from an intentional crash in 2008. And ISRO had previously faced failures that the world watched minute by minute. Yet today, India sashayed its way into the league of superpowers by flying the Indian tricolor high on the moon’s surface. Till today it was only the United States, Russia and China who had made their way to the moon.

To me, India’s scientific expedition to the moon is a journey that has unraveled some of the most humane, humble, and empowering moments in the history of mankind. Let me share some of my favorites here:

1. In 2008, a small Indian probe crashed into the moon only to make the biggest discovery ever, there were signs of water. Could it ever be imagined that the seed of thought about India’s mission to the moon was born from an intentional crash? Remember, the starting point of every peak of success is always a thought.
2. On July 22nd 2019, Chandrayaan – 2 was sent to space but crashed on the Moon’s surface on September 7 due to a partial failure. This failure led to the witnessing of a humane moment when ace scientist and ISRO Chief K Sivan was emotional and found consolation on the shoulders of India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. A humble realisation that the best of us cannot escape the clutches of failure and in moments of failure, those in power can change the game, by simply showing up with empathy, grace and faith in a person’s capabilities and intentions.
3. Nearly 15 years after the intentional crash and almost four years after Chandrayaan 2 was lost , ISRO successfully guided ‘Vikram’ through a tricky dance of gravity and speed to a soft landing on the south polar region of the moon. Sometimes we may get our facts right and processes in place, yet be exposed to risk. The only solution is to face the fight and push one’s boundaries over and above the failures.
4. Think about it. Being a scientist in ISRO requires academic genius, and the team that took on the Chandrayaan-3 project included some of the sharpest minds in India – yet the crowd gathered in ISRO’s Mission Operation Complex waited with bated breath. It was only when the lander was merely 812 metres away from the moon, that the scientists at ISRO erupted in applause for the first time and showed hints of unbridled joy knowing their mission had finally made it to the moon.

Not just any part of the moon — Chandrayaan-3 landed on unexplored territory of the moon peppered with thousands of craters and hundreds of obstacles rising out of the ground—one of the most challenging to land on when it comes to interplanetary locations.

A magical mission to the moon indeed! India has done us so proud and how.

The author is Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner at UHY James Chartered Accountants, Dubai, UAE; ARISE UAE Board Member, Independent Non-Executive Director of GCC Healthcare Group; former Chairman, ICAI-Dubai Chapter; and former Secretary- General of IBPC Dubai.

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Interestingly space agencies of the two country are different versions of the incident.
Roscosmos, Russia’s state-controlled space agency, said the Indian Satellite came as close as 224 metres to the Russian satellite Kanopus-V before the collision was averted.

“According to the TsNIIMash calculations, the minimum distance between the Russian and foreign satellites were 224 meters. Both spacecraft are designed for Earth’s remote sensing,” Roscosmos said.

However the Indian space agency ISRO said that the Russian satellite was 420 meters away.
ISRO Chief K Sivan acknowledged that Cartosat-2F and Kanopus- V did encounter a close approach, but the two satellites were 420 meters apart from each other.

K Sivan said that ISRO was tracking the satellite for four days, and a manoeuvre will only be done when it comes around 150 meters.

These incidents are not so uncommon in space as there are thousands of satellites orbiting the earth. The general practice is that the two agencies discuss and carry out a manoeuvre.

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The earth observation satellite will be launched at 3.02 pm from Satish Dhawan Space Center (SDSC) Sriharikota. The PSLV rocket will also carry nine customer satellites from three other countries.

Countdown for the launch of #PSLVC49/#EOS01 mission commenced today at 1302 Hrs (IST) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.

Launch is scheduled tomorrow at 1502 Hrs IST . pic.twitter.com/JQ0nBXHChx

— ISRO (@isro) November 6, 2020

The EOS-01 is the primary payload on the PSLV-C49 mission. It is a synthetic aperture radar weather imaging satellite capable of functioning in all kinds of weather. It is a part of India’s RISAT series of imaging satellites.

The satellite was originally called RISAT- 2BR2, but has since been renamed EOS-01 in accordance with ISRO’s new naming scheme for satellites. The satellite will aid forestry, agricultural, and disaster management.

The customer satellites are being launched under a commercial agreement with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), Department of Space. It also includes one from Lithuania for technology demonstration, and four each from Luxembourgh and USA for maritime applications and multi-mission remote sensing respectively.

This will be the 76th launch vehicle mission from Sriharikota spaceport and the 51st flight of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle ‘PSLV’.

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From being the people’s President to spearheading the development of the most significant Indian missiles, late President Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam has contributed to the development of the country in different spheres.

As an aerospace scientist, Kalam worked with India’s two major space research organisations- Defence Research and Development Organisation(DRDO) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

His work in the development and operationalisation of India’s indigenous missiles- Agni and Prithvi – earned him the title of the ‘Missile Man of India’. But there are many ways in which Kalam has helped India in the field of Science and Technology.

The former President had many roles but his favourite one was that of a teacher. His interest in students can be determined by the fact that he travelled the country and visited several schools to meet the students. Hence on Kalam’s birthday on October 15 is celebrated as World Students Day since 2010.

On his 89th birthday, here are five of his major scientific contributions to the country:

1.Frontrunner of the project to develop India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle( SLV)

Back in the 1980s, when India had hardly dreamt of having its indigenous satellite launch vehicle, Dr Kalam worked hard for 10 long years as the project director at ISRO, which led to some groundbreaking scientific development. In July 1980, India’s SLV-III successfully deployed the Rohini satellite in near-Earth orbit making the country a member of the exclusive Space Club.

2. The man behind the launch of ballistic missiles

Kalam also headed the projects Devil and Valiant which had the aim of developing ballistic missiles using the technology behind the SLV program. Under his leadership, the team developed AGNI , which is an intermediate- range ballistic missile and Prithvi which is a surface- to- surface missile.

3. Headed multiple nuclear tests at Pokhran

Kalam played a major role in heading the Pokhran-II nuclear testing leading to him being known as the best nuclear scientist of the country. He was serving as the Chief Scientific Adviser to the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

It was a defining moment in the country’s history and also proved the efficiency of Indian intelligence. India was able to deceive spy satellites of the United States and other countries while carrying out the test . The Pokhran site was under surveillance as Vajpayee had actually given the authorisation to undertake the test in 1996.

The 58 Engineers under the supervision of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr. Rajagopal Chidambaram, the then Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, were specially chosen for the crucial task of maintaining the shafts in which India’s nuclear devices would be tested. They were told to take all measures to ensure total secrecy. So effective were the regiment’s tactics that when India carried out five nuclear tests in May 1998, it went down as one of the CIA’s biggest intelligence failures.

4. He worked in making healthcare accessible to all.

Working jointly with cardiologist Soma Raju, the late President developed a cost effective coronary stent ‘ Kalam- Raju Stent’ which helped in making healthcare accessible to all.

5. Develpoed the rugged ‘Kalam-Raju tablet’

The duo of Kalam and Soma Raju designed a tablet computer for better health care administration in rural areas of the country , calling it ‘Kalam- Raju tablet’.

For his efficient work in the stream of science and politics, the 11th President was also awarded India’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna. Kalam breathed his last on July 27, 2015, while doing what he loved, meeting students and interacting with them. He was delivering a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong, when he collapsed and died from a cardiac arrest.

Even today, his contributions are still remembered as some of the best scientific and technological developments in the country.

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A few days back, in a press briefing hosted by the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers claimed to have detected the presence of phosphine in the Venusian atmosphere. Experts consider the presence of phosphine a potential sign of alien life, as this gas is produced by microbes here on earth. Now, according to the latest reports, United States space agency NASA is apparently gearing up for a Venusian mission in the near future to unravel mysteries surrounding potential alien life forms on Venus.

As the United States is planning for an upcoming Venusian mission, Dimitry Rogozin, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos has claimed that Venus is a Russian planet, as the Soviet Union was the first and only country to land on the hostile planet.

Rogozin also added that their probe had gathered crucial information about the planet and he made it clear that the earth’s neighbor has a hellish atmosphere.

It was in 1975 that the Soviet Union’s Venera 9 probe touched down the surface of the Venus, and captured some images of this planet from the ground. These pictures revealed the poisonous atmosphere of Venus, and considering the technology at that time, it was considered a milestone achievement.

In the meantime, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is also planning to study Venus in the future as the country is gearing up with its highly ambitious Shukrayaan-1 mission. Even though India is not planning to land on Venus, ISRO aims to analyze the planet’s chemistry by orbiting around the planet.

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The decision taken is in line with the long-term vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of transforming India and making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced.The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will continue to play its role, the government said, adding that the new organization will supplement it.“It’ll guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies in a friendly regulatory environment,” said Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Atomic Energy & Space.

These reforms, the government said, will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme. The Public Sector Enterprise ‘New Space India Limited (NSIL)’ will endeavor to re-orient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ model, thereby ensuring optimum utilisation of space assets.

Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to the private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism, the government said.With this, the government believes that there is an opportunity for large- scale employment in the technology sector and India becoming a global technology powerhouse.

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