How India's Moon missions went from Somayaan to Chandrayaan

India is all set to create history today with its Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s lander Vikram is slated to touch down near the Moon’s south pole at 6.04 pm. The success will make India just the fourth country to do so – after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China – and the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite. But have you ever wondered about the origins of India’s Moon missions and how they got the name Chandrayaan? Let’s take a closer look:  Origins of Moon mission  As per Hindustan Times, the idea of India first carrying out a lunar mission was broached in 1999. This came after talks with the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999 as well as discussions within the Astronautical Society of India the next year.

The ISRO, based on the recommendations of such experts, then formed the National Lunar Mission Task Force.

This task force, comprising top scientists and technologists, debated the feasibility of a Moon mission as well as spelled out its goals. The panel then unanimously recommended that India carry out a lunar mission. In November 2003, the Centre approved the ISRO proposal for the first Moon Mission, as per Hindustan Times.  PM changes Somayaan to Chandrayaan As per Deccan Chronicle, scientists in 1999 had picked out the name ‘Somayaan’ from a Sanskrit verse in the Rigveda: “O Moon! We should be able to know you through our intellect. You enlighten us through the right path.”

But then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee – a big backer of the space programme – had different ideas.

As Dr K Kasturirangan, then ISRO chairman, recalled, “Vajpayee said the mission should be called Chandrayaan, and not Somayaan, as the country has emerged as an economic power, and will make many exploratory journeys to the Moon." “It took four years to plan the mission, and another four years to implement it,” Kasturirangan added. [caption id=“attachment_13004592” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee changed the name of the Moon mission. Getty Images[/caption] As per Hindustan Times, Vajpayee in 2003, giving India’s 56th Independence Day speech from Red Fort, announced the Chandrayaan-1. “Our country is now ready to fly high in the field of science. I am pleased to announce that India will send her spacecraft to the moon by 2008. It is being named Chandrayaan,” Vajpayee stated. Chandrayaan-1 was sent into orbit on 22 October, 2008, while Chandrayaan-2 was launched on 22 July, 2019. Chandrayaan-3 is a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 and its objectives are to demonstrate safe and soft-landing on the lunar surface, roving on the Moon, and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments. Chandrayaan-2 had failed in its lunar phase when its lander ‘Vikram’ crashed into the surface of the Moon following anomalies in the braking system in the lander while attempting a touch down on 7 Septembe, 2019. The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on 14 July onboard Launch Vehicle Mark-III (LVM-3) rocket, for a 41-day voyage to reach near the lunar south pole. The soft-landing is being attempted days after Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control.  With inputs from agencies