Chandrayaan-3: PM Modi is away at BRICS. But he won’t be missing the Moon landing event

Chandrayaan-3’s lander and rover will hopefully go today where no man or rover has gone before. The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Moon mission to the south pole is being watched by all – mostly with bated breath, days after the failure of a Russian vehicle trying to achieve the same feat. Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) – lander Vikram and rover Pragyan – is scheduled to make a touch down near the lunar south pole at 6.04 pm on this evening. If successful – there are prayers and pujas being held – Chandrayaan-3 will make India only the fourth country in the world behind the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union to master the technology of a soft landing on the Moon. As Chandrayaan-3 attempts to achieve history, all want to be a witness to it, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Let’s see how PM Modi will view the Chandrayaan-3 landing even as he is busy with BRICS meetings and discussions in Johannesburg. A virtual watch Currently, PM Modi is in the South African city of Johannesburg for the 15th BRICS summit – the first in-person meet since 2019. Arriving in South Africa on Tuesday (22 August), he attended the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue where he said that India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business has improved with “mission-mode” reforms being undertaken by his government. Not wishing to miss what can be described as India’s crowning moment in space exploration, it has been reported that the prime minister has etched out time from his busy schedule to view the event virtually. ISRO has said the live telecast of the Moon landing will begin at 5:20 pm on Wednesday. Live actions of landing will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 5:27 pm. Incidentally, Modi has a close tie to India’s Moon mission. The prime minister was present at the ISRO headquarters in September 2019 when the Chandrayaan-2 mission had failed. And even though the mission was unsuccessful, Modi had praised the scientists for their effort and said the country must not be disappointed that Chandrayaan was not able to land on the moon then. “Instead, we need to learn from our mistakes and keep going till we are successful,” the PM then said.

#WATCH PM Narendra Modi hugged and consoled ISRO Chief K Sivan after he(Sivan) broke down. #Chandrayaan2 pic.twitter.com/bytNChtqNK

— ANI (@ANI) September 7, 2019

He had also hugged and consoled then ISRO chairman K Sivan as he broke down, hours after the space agency announced it lost contact with the lander. **Also read: Chandrayaan-3 costs lesser than big films: How India keeps its space missions frugal** Progress of Chandrayaan-3 The Chandrayaan-3 mission is just hours away from possibly making history and ISRO in its last update said that “it is on schedule. Systems are undergoing regular checks. Smooth sailing is continuing.” The descent of the lander and rover is a very complex manoeuvre and scientists are hoping for success. From a velocity of about 6,000 km/hour in the orbit, the spacecraft will have to slow down to near zero as it makes a touchdown. It is designed to land safely even at speeds of 10 km/hour. The descent will be completely autonomous – artificial intelligence and computer logic driven – with the mission control at ISTRAC keeping a close watch. [caption id=“attachment_13028672” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Students of Sudarsan Sand Art Institute create a sand art on ISRO’s lunar mission Chandrayaan-3 at the beach, in Puri. PTI[/caption] ISRO chairman S Somnath has said that the Chandrayaan- 3 lander has been designed with a failure-based approach, which means that every kind of failure has been taken into account and safeguards have been built for them all. The spacecraft’s legs have been strengthened so that it can land safely even at greater speeds, its software has been updated, its fuel capacity increased, and its ability to manoeuvre and find a suitable place to land has been expanded. Another ISRO official also said on Monday that in case the spacecraft, for some reason, is not ready to make a landing Wednesday, another landing attempt could be made on 27 August (Sunday). Prayers and parties for Chandrayaan-3 Ahead of the landing, scheduled for 6.04 pm, there’s a buzz around the country, with many holding prayers and pujas for the mission. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) is holding a mega ‘yajna’ in the national capital for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the lunar surface. In Madhya Pradesh, a large number of devotees offered special prayers at the Bageshwar Dam in Chhatarpur for the success of the Moon mission. Similarly, sadhus performed a havan in Varanasi. [caption id=“attachment_13028692” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Mahant of Sri Mankameshwar temple Mahant Devaigya Puri performs ‘puja’ and ‘havan’ for the safe landing of Chandrayaan -3, in Lucknow. PTI[/caption] Indian students and research scholars in Uxbridge, London also organised a special prayer at the Adya Shakti Mataji Temple for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon. A student present at the prayer was quoted as saying: “We are gathered here for the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3. In the UK, every student and every professional is wishing for the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 and we are just wishing that everything goes smoothly and according to the plan and I wish and congratulate all the scientists of ISRO and the Indian government as well.” Apart from prayers, space parties are also being organised across the country to hail the mission. In Uttar Pradesh, schools are holding special screenings as “landing of India’s Chandrayaan-3 is a memorable opportunity, which will not only encourage curiosity, but will also instil passion in our youth towards inquiry”. In Gujarat, the science and technology council has invited over 2,000 school students “to witness the historic moment” on a large screen, its head Narottam Sahoo said, as per a Reuters report. The state culture ministry of Kolkata is throwing a “Science Party” to celebrate the mission, asking people to “embark on exhilarating educational adventure” with a live telecast. With inputs from agencies