'It will be a great thing for humanity': ISRO founder Vikram Sarabhai's son Kartikeya on Chandrayaan-3 mission

Kartikeya Sarabhai, son of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) founder Vikram Sarabhai, on Wednesday said the landing of Chandrayaan-3 on lunar surface will be a great thing for humanity as no one has been able to land on the south side of the moon. “It is a big day. It is a fantastic thing for anyone on the planet not just India to be able to send this precision with which we have been able to send Chandrayaan-3 and also through a process that is different from others…,” Kartikeya told news agency ANI.

#WATCH | On Chandrayaan-3 mission, son of ISRO founder Vikram Sarabhai, Kartikeya Sarabhai says, "It is a big day. It is a fantastic thing for anyone on the planet not just India to be able to send this precision with which we have been able to send Chandrayaan-3 & also through a… pic.twitter.com/28mzJvSwUw

— ANI (@ANI) August 23, 2023

He said in science and engineering we learn from mistakes. “Chandrayaan-2 was a great success except the lander, there was a problem. ISRO has corrected those issues. We have our fingers crossed and hope everything goes well,” he said. “…It will be a great thing for humanity because no one has been able to land on the south side of the moon…,” he added. Meanwhile, India is keeping its fingers crossed as ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) is all set to land on the lunar surface today evening. India is eyeing to become the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite. The LM comprising the lander (Vikram) and the rover (Pragyan), is scheduled to make a touch down near the south polar region of the Moon at 6:04 pm. Once the Vikram Module lands safely, it will perform a systems check and run a few diagnostics. It will also prepare the Pragyan Rover to go out on to the lunar surface and carry out its data and sample collection. The Pragyaan rover will be on its mission for 14 days, during which it will be analysing the Moon’s surface for traces of water ice, helium-3 and many other critical components. The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which has been developed for just over Rs 600 crore, will be critical to India’s future space missions as well as for other countries. Chandrayaan-3’s experiments will determine whether it is feasible to set up a launch station for interplanetary expeditions, on the Moon. Furthermore, Chandrayaan-3’s findings will tell us whether the moon is a viable option for our clean energy goals. Scientists believe that Helium-3 or He-3 holds the key to virtually limitless clean energy, and will be vital for the world, in achieving our clean energy goals. If the Chandrayaan-3 mission succeeds in making a touchdown on moon and in landing a robotic lunar rover in ISRO’s second attempt in four years, India will become the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface after the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union. 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 September 7, 2019. Chandrayaan’s maiden mission was in 2008. 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