'15 minutes of terror': What ISRO learns from Chandrayaan-2 mission

Ever since the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the launch of Chandrayaan-2, its most ambitious mission till date, it had put just one caveat -- the crucial powered descent on the moon, which it was attempting for the first time.

India had been to the moon before with the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1 in 2008, which gave the world evidence of water molecules on the lunar surface. So, it was evident that the team was confident of accomplishing the feat again.

A video played on a giant screen showing the Chandrayaan 2 tracking in a media enclosure at ISRO. Photo: PTI (PTI)

The crucial manoeuvres required to place a spacecraft into the desired moon orbit , the trans-lunar injection and lunar orbit insertion had gone precisely as planned for Chandrayaan-2. The inclination to the lunar surface was closer to precision. Lander Vikram had successfully separated from Orbiter and de-orbited to an elliptical orbit of 35 X 100 kms, from where it began the powered descent on Saturday.

But it was during the last phase of the mission which involved executing a soft landing on the moon - new to ISRO, that the results did not go as planned. In the days leading to the final event, ISRO chairman K Sivan had described the moments as "15 minutes of terror" when Lander Vikram would entirely be on its own, with no ground control to guide it.

On Saturday, during those 15 minutes the enthusiasm of the entire team turned into despair. Lander Vikram lost all communication with the ground station during the last two minutes when it was just 2.1 km above the lunar surface.

The power descent was indeed one of the most complex exercises that ISRO had ever undertaken, which involved reducing the velocity of the Lander from 1.6 km/second to zero in a controlled manner. The agency made use of a new technology-- the five thrusters which would be fired in stages to bring down its velocity.

All simulations, testing and verification were done several times on earth. But there were uncertainties involved in executing it on the moon. The moon has no atmosphere and the gravity is one-sixth of that of earth, and actions have to be performed accordingly. There was no muscle memory of landing on the moon.

A similar attempt by Israel in April could not achieve success. But, ISRO tried to learn from that and decided to strengthen the sensor characterisation of Lander so it does not get impacted due to any human error. It also accounted for any communication delay, because the Lander was designed to be autonomous and take decisions on its own.

But, it could not control the velocity during the last two minutes and could not achieve a soft landing on the moon. The orbiter, however, continues to revolve around the moon at an altitude of 100 km above the surface and would continue the Chandrayaan-2's exploration.

(Source: Live Mint)

ISRO's Vikram Lander drops short by 2.1 km, but Orbiter keeps Chandrayaan2 alive

The Vikram Lander from Chandrayaan 2’s orbiter was meant to land on the lunar surface on Sept 7 but telecommunication link was lost.

Like everything Indian, there was plenty of drama and high emotion at the scheduled touchdown of Chandrayaan2's Vikram Lander on the Moon's surface on Sept 7 at 1:52 am IST.

Just 2.1 km short of landing, all connections with the Vikram Lander was lost. The Lander, which had detached from Chandrayaan 2’s Orbiter on September 2, had been manoeuvring around the Moon for nearly five days.

As ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan said, everything was according to plan and just short of 2.1 km, communication was lost. He added that ISRO is analysing the data sent by Vikram Lander.

In an official statement released at 3 am, ISRO said, "Vikram Lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from Lander to the ground stations was lost. Data is being analyzed."

This is Mission Control Centre. #VikramLander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communication from Lander to the ground stations was lost. Data is being analyzed.#ISRO

— ISRO (@isro) 6 September 2019

The mission is being constantly monitored by the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Center (ISTRAC) at Bengaluru.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was at the ISTRAC, encouraged the scientists for the hard work and said he had full faith in them. He said, "Let's not lose hope. You (ISRO scientists) have done a lot for mankind and I am with you all the way."

PM Modi also met school children, who had come to witness the historic landing. To a question posed by a student on how can they keep themselves motivated in life, PM Modi said do not carry your failures on your shoulder. Keep moving ahead.

Which is what the ISRO scientists will be doing now. All is not lost. The Orbiter, which is equipped with instruments to carry out various tests, is still on course.

The sequence of soft landing of Vikram lander on the lunar surface (Image: ISRO)

What should have happened according to plan had Vikram landed?
With two engines on at an altitude of 400 metres, the Vikram Lander should have descended in a parabolic manner. During its final stage, Vikram Lander would have created an opposite force to make sure it lands softly on the lunar surface and is also equipped with touchdown sensors at its feet.

Later, it would have started its operation of the deployment of payloads, which is touted as a critical operation. As per ISRO, the Vikram Lander was carrying CHASTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermo-physical Experiment), RAMBHA (Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere) and ILSA (Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity).

After the deployment of specific payloads, the six-wheeled Pragyan Rover would have started rolling out on the lunar surface at 5:30 am. Prior to which its solar panel would have powered its battery as it descended, and it would have used its NAV camera to scan its surrounding.

Once the scanning was completed, the data was planned to be sent to Earth via Vikram. This scan would have then processed at mission control for planning the path for Pragyan to move ahead.

In case of any obstacle, Pragyan would have used its Rocker Bogie mechanism to overcome it. It was equipped with a movement range of 50 mm upward and downward. Also, mission control would have instructed Pragyan to stop and determine elemental composition of lunar rocks soil using the APXS (Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer) payload.

For understanding the lunar surface, Pragyan was meant to engage its LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectrometer) payload to derive the elemental composition of the lunar surface.

However, all is not lost. Watch this space for updates on Vikram Lander's fate and the next steps by ISRO.

(Source: YS)

'Mission Mangal' review: Rousing nationalism, with some gender stereotypes thrown in

The movie has a few moving moments, but can’t get rid of its NASA hangover.

Someone in the Mission Mangal team – possibly one (or all) of its three writers, Jagan Shakti, Nidhi Singh Dharma and Saketh Kondiparthi – took the “home” in “home science” a little too seriously. An early scene in the movie, centred on Tara Shinde (Vidya Balan), a project director at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), shows her leaving for work. She’s first shown praying, then introduced as a mother, then as a wife – checking with her kids, deflecting the demands of her husband (Sanjay Kapoor) – and finally, as the house’s daughter-in-law. The implication, as you can see, is quite clear: that Tara juggles multiple identities at home (as a woman) but is also a space scientist.

Maybe the writers got their cues from a picture that went viral after the successful completion of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission: a few elderly women in sarees, locked in half-embrace, beaming. It was a fascinating sight, and sarees, typically associated with Indian homemakers, may have contributed to it, producing an unlikely combination: a confluence of tradition and modern, (elderly Indian) women as stellar scientists – all adding up to an international, unprecedented achievement. This is, no doubt, an intriguing hook to a story.

But in Mission Mangal, this hook gets an inordinate amount of attention, which makes you suspect whether it’s a formula. Consider how some of the other (female) protagonists, Tara’s colleagues, are introduced: Kritika Agarwal (Taapse Paannu) is learning to drive and fumbling – you’re supposed to laugh. Varsha Pillai (Nithya Menen) is taunted by her mother-in-law for not becoming a mother. Now compare that to how Akshay Kumar’s Rakesh Dhawan is introduced: standing nonchalant, humming a song, looking at a rocket about to launch – a “bachelor” of science.

There’s more. Tara gets an idea for the Mars mission from her kitchen (“home science”, you see). Balan, with her endearing sincerity and vulnerability, makes the scene work, but it is another (slightly sophisticated) version of the film’s gender segregation – and something that doesn’t really reveal character but regurgitates a tired trope.

The casting here – ranging from mainstream Bollywood (Balan and Sinha) to relatively new impressive performers (Paannu, Kirti Kulhari) to a Bollywood outsider (Menen) – definitely merits intrigue. Barring Balan though, none of them are memorable, because the film saddles them with sketchily-written roles. It’s also so because Mission Mangal wants its ‘hero’, Kumar, to shine.

Rakesh, for instance, frequently interrupts Tara, makes fun of her (which is supposed to be funny); the film, in one scene, even (literally) mutes her expertise. (When Tara is explaining her idea to Rakesh, all you can hear is not her but a loud background score.) Our satellite may have gone to Mars, but we still need status quo on Earth. Then there’s scientist Eka Gandhi (Sonakshi Sinha) who is harassed at work by her creepy colleague, Parmeshwar Naidu (Sharman Joshi). The film considers it cute and funny – even romantic.

Which is weird, for this is a movie trying to sell its feminism hard. And if feminism comes – in a Kumar movie – can nationalism be far behind? We’re told quite early that “some of the best scientists are Indians, but they work for NASA”, that “NASA is 50 years ahead of ISRO”, that “we should borrow from NASA’s knowledge and build on it”. It’s the oldest trick in the book: prop up a false binary, then deflate it. The film’s obsession with NASA is a bit extreme. There are several references to its “Rs 6,000 crore rocket — Maven” (the Indian Mars mission cost Rs 400 crore). Quiet pride is one thing, but Bollywood wants India to win in a nose-thumbing competition. Initially it was annoying; now it’s just plain embarrassing.

The film, though, is by no means a train-wreck. It is at its finest when it’s just having fun (as opposed to wrestling with the Big Questions, which it is largely clueless about). The scene involving Kapoor, for instance, where he’s dancing to the song ‘Akhiyaan Milaoon Kabhi’ in a club (from his own 1995 film Raja) and then reminiscing about “those days” is both masterly tongue-in-cheek and, unexpectedly, moving. Or another poignant segment where the core team members recall their first brush with science –  a scene that breaks a long-standing Bollywood tradition, which has almost always treated its protagonists’ love for science as a MacGuffin. Ravi Varman’s cinematography – especially in scenes involving natural light – is striking.

But just when you think that the movie’s finding a semblance of rhythm, it segues into a painful song – a contrived depiction of the team’s work – called ‘Mission Mangal’. Then, just like Pad Man, there are several painfully paternalistic dialogues. Kritika’s husband (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) likens her work to an “army mission”. There’s a scuffle in a metro that makes zero sense. And finally, the film’s ultimate failure: its excessive (and unintelligent) dramatisation of the real-life scientists’ complex work, making it look like a fancy science exhibition project. The film ends with an uplifting, crowd-pleasing message, underscored by a Modi speech.

Outside the Connaught Place multiplex, though, the movie still seemed to be on. Right outside the theatre stood a biggish model of a PSLV rocket. People were standing near it, getting their pictures clicked – it was an understandable sentiment. Then a young man, presumably too excited, dislodged one of the strap-ons, held it and smiled for the camera. That, I thought, perfectly encapsulated the current Indian nationalism – aggression and machismo replacing self-contained joy.

(Source: The Wire)

Is India ready to send someone to space?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that India will carry out a manned space flight by 2022. Science writer Pallava Bagla asks whether the country's space agency can pick up the gauntlet.

Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) reckon they will need $1.28bn (£1.01bn) to fulfil Mr Modi's challenge - and they think they can launch the flight within 40 months.

There are many reasons why they believe it can be done.

They hope to use the country's heaviest rocket - the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III or GSLV Mk-III - for the space flight.

This 640-tonne, 43-metre tall rocket was launched successfully in 2017. The coverage of the launch was euphoric, and often colourful, with websites comparing the rocket to the weight of 200 elephants or five jumbo jets.

This rocket can launch 10 tonnes of payload into low-Earth orbit- an altitude of 2,000km (1,200 miles) or less above the planet - which is more than enough to send a crew into space, say scientists.

With some modifications, the launch pad from a site off the Bay of Bengal can easily be used to launch astronauts, they say.

The space agency carried out a successful "pad abort test" in July which saw a test vehicle - carrying no humans, only a dummy - hurled skywards by a set of powerful in-built thrusters.

The demonstration simulated what would happen to the crew ship in the event of a rocket failure on the launch pad.

India's "monster rocket" carried a huge satellite into space in 2017

Indian scientists have also developed light weight silicon tiles that can resist getting burnt and will be used to coat the outside of the space vehicle. (When a spacecraft comes back into the Earth's atmosphere it faces roasting temperatures above 1,000C due to friction.)

An Ahmedabad-based laboratory has already developed a space suit for the astronauts. The biggest challenge, according to scientists, will be to train the astronauts and to develop the necessary life support system to keep them alive in space.

"The astronaut program will not only bolster national pride, it will also galvanise the youth to take up a career in science," Isro chairman and well-known rocket scientist, K Sivan, told me.

'Coming of age'
Dr Sivan says that since India still does not have the full capability of training astronauts, "expertise of other agencies" could be sought to keep to the deadline.

Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel into space in 1984 in a Soviet rocket, says a manned space flight is a "natural corollary of every space programme that has attained a level of maturity - a coming of age, if you will."

Till date Russia, US and China have sent astronauts into space. If India can achieve this, it will become the fourth country to launch humans into space.

But there are some scientists who believe the goal of the space mission is misplaced.

"Sending Indians into space is the most silly and idiotic idea, especially 50 years after Neil Armstrong first landed on the moon," veteran space scientist V Siddhartha says.

Armstrong, who died in 2012, set foot on the Moon on 20 July 1969, famously describing the event as "one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind".

Mr Siddhartha says robotic missions can now do many things that astronauts do, without the risk of sending humans into space.

Dr Sivan counters this by saying that there are still many tasks only human intelligence can perform. He adds that India seeks to build up its own capabilities to launch Indians into space.

"If colonies have to be set up outside Earth for the human civilisation, how can India, one of the oldest civilisations, be left behind and wanting," he said.

The rocket carrying 104 satellites was launched from the
Sriharikota space centre in 2017

Professor K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor to the federal government, told me India has the "perfect technology and cultural environment" for the mission.

In the past, Isro has always delivered on the challenges that have been thrown at them.

In 2014, India successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth nation or geo-bloc to do so. The mission cost $67m, which, by Western standards, was staggeringly cheap.

Earlier, in 2009, the inaugural moon mission Chandrayaan-1 became the first and the most detailed search for water on the Moon using radars.

And in 2017, India created history by successfully launching 104 satellites on a single mission, overtaking the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia in 2014.

"Failure is not an option," says Dr Sivan.

"Team Isro will rise to the challenge to make sure that an Indian is launched into space by 2022".

(Source: BBC)

The sea is likely to swallow these parts of Chennai by 2100

What are you going to do about it?

The Velachery MRTS, the Perungudi dump yard, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and HCL buildings – these are but a few examples of crucial landmarks in south Chennai that will cease to exist by the year 2100, if we do not act now.

According to a 2012 'Coastal Zones of India' report prepared by Ahmedabad-based Satellite Application Centre (SAC), an unit of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Tamil Nadu is set to lose 3,209.33 sq km of coastal area prone to submergence if the sea level rises by even one metre.

A graphic representation provided by SAC highlights portions that are likely to be submerged in blue. The red portions indicate areas that may be affected when there is a high tide.

According to environmentalists, the sea water will make its way into low lying areas through river mouths and make the lands uninhabitable.

So why is this report relevant now?
The Tamil Nadu government plans release a Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) and it must ideally account for Sea Level Rise (SLR). It should also contain the mandatory hazard line, long-term plans for fisher housing and prospective land-use. According to the Coastal Resource Centre, the state should have released the CZMP in 2012 but failed to. And despite ISRO's dire warnings, the government has allowed densification of industrial installations and urban sprawl in vulnerable coastal areas.

“Climate change and sea level rise are real and present dangers. The CZMP offers an opportunity to plan for the decongesting of the coast. Other countries are doing that. We must start retreating from the sea and improving our natural safeguards against extreme sea-borne events,” says Pooja Kumar of Coastal Resource Centre.

As per the submergence maps contained in the SAC's report, Chennai stands to lose 3.11 sq. km of critical industrial infrastructure, almost all in the Ennore region.

NTECL Vallur, all of TANGEDCO's power plants in Ennore, Kamarajar Port's existing and proposed infrastructure inside the Creek, HPCL and BPCL's oil terminals, the Minjur desalination plant and portions of CPCL's petrochemical refinery in Manali will be swallowed by the sea.

"That is not all," warns Pooja. "The groundwater resources of Araniyar-Kosasthalaiyar basin will be degraded due to tidal ingress and this will affect the entire city," she adds .

To make matters worse, both the Kodungaiyur and Perungudi dumpyards are likely to be submerged. "So the city will literally drown in trash," says Pooja.

The proposed petroleum refinery and Petrochemical Investment Region in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam, industrial installations and salt pans in Tuticorin and the Koodankulam nuclear reactors are located in vulnerable areas that are prone either to submergence or degradation due to tidal action.

"All this will happen by 2100 and it won't be sudden. It will be gradual and is already in motion. So we cannot sit back and leave it for the next generations to handle," says Pooja.

(Maps provided by Coastal Resource Centre)

(Spource: TNM)

Do we really need a Mars mission?

Does India really need a mission to Mars when it is facing so many other challenges? It is not even a month since North India suffered an electrical grid failure, which pushed more than 600 million people in the country to darkness for two straight days. Not to forget the fact that it entered the history as the world’s worst power outage!

The ISRO on the other day announced that the officials are waiting for the cabinet approval of the $80 million-mission. Their Mars mission comes when the country is still weighed down under the burden of power shortage, poor sanitation, less monsoon,

When the country is reeling under poverty, unable to provide basic needs to its citizens, don’t we feel this Red Planet mission is kind of a luxury? I agree that the country should compete with the developed countries when it comes to science and technology, but at what cost? Don’t our leaders see that more than half of the children in our country are malnourished, which even our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had agreed, some time ago? It was not long ago, but this January when the PM called the country’s malnutrition levels a “national shame”. Of the age below five years, “42% of children are underweight”, yes, that’s official! Who will deny that half of the families in the country have no access to sanitation?

Is India competing with its neighbor China when it comes to space mission? It’s an open secret that both the countries have had races to launch moon missions and other projects over the last decade. And it’s only last month, in June, that China sent its first female astronaut into space in a mission to dock with the country’s orbiting space laboratory. The 10-day mission will see the crew of three carry out the first manned docking with the Tiangong-1 space lab, a vital step in China’s goal to have a working space station by 2020.

However, what shouldn’t go unmentioned here is the fact that India suffered a setback in 2010, when it tried to launch a communication satellite. It was not the first, but the second launching failure in less than a year. The advanced GSAT-5P communication satellite, launched from the Satish Dhawan space centre at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, had disappeared in plumes of smoke within seconds after blastoff. Ever wondered how much it had cost for the ISRO, rather say country? The rocket had cost nearly Rs 1.75 billion ($38 milion), while the satellite had cost Rs 1.25 billion ($27 million).

And in 2008, ISRO had launched a satellite – Chandrayaan-1 -- to orbit the moon, but was abandoned a year later due to failure in the communication links and scientists had lost control of the satellite. Agreed that the launch has put India in an elite club of countries with moon missions, such as the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China. And since 1960, there have been 44 missions to Mars with just about half of them being successful; attempts have been made by the former USSR and Russia, the US, Europe, Japan and China.

India began its space programme in the 1960s and since 1975, has launched more than 50 remote sensing and communication satellites of its own and 22 for other nations.

And what more, ISRO is planning to send its first manned space flight in 2016. Any idea how much the ISRO has sought for this project? Rs 120 billion, to put two astronauts in space for a week and the government has already provided a pre-project fund of about Rs 4 billion allowing the scientists to do some initial research on the space flight.

When asked if the country should take up such a mission, which costs so much on the exchequer, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had justified it, in 2006. ‘‘We have to walk on two legs to deal with the fundamental problems of development and, at the same time, set our sights sufficiently high so that we can operate on the frontiers of science and technology… In the increasingly globalised world we live in, a base of scientific and technical knowledge has emerged as a critical determinant of the wealth and status of nations and it is that which drives us to programmes of this type.’’

Ironically, ISRO’s homepage highlights a statement by Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme, in which he hails the technology and says that they are not competing with other nations: “There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the comity of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society.” But we are not fools to forget the fact that ISRO has projects in all the three areas -- exploration of the moon, the planets and the manned space flight!  

ISRO is also expected to launch a Mars Orbiter as early as November 2013. The mission was boosted five months ago when the national budget set aside Rs 1.25 billion ($22.4 million) in the current financial year. But wait, the project is yet to get the cabinet nod.

The news of this Mars mission generated varied reactions in newspapers and websites. Some mocked the ambitions as a mere waste of resources which could help beat the hunger and poverty in the country, while some others praised the country for competing with the developed nations.

A post by Srini (Hyderabad) on The Times of India website said: “Our country cannot take care of people, education, safety, infrastructure (roads, electricity, food) and disasters. However, we are ready to spend loads of money and send a spacecraft to Mars. We cannot conquer India (Ex: Issues in Assam), politicians face is in their rare end, they talk with rear end, cannot control terrorism, poor with discipline... my god the list goes on. Here we are, ready to go to Mars. What a stupid decision ! it is not even buying defensive equipment to protect from evils but something else. Shame on India... Jai Hind.”

Yet another post by Sri (US) asked: “Shall we get access to clean water and toilets in all villages in India before going to mars.”

A post by human (earth) said: “this isnt right there are over half a billion indians who dont have enough to eat ,no education and no future.The government shud nt be wasting billions of dollars on this.”

A post by Rani (Bangalore) said: “Totally agree. What will this mission proof and how will it benefit these millions who need the basics of life. May send all these corrupt people of India to live on Mars and then India will be best place to live.”

A post by Sir Baby De Porky said: “They have caught some materialistic virus from the West , and think that this ” bolts and nuts ” technological chimera is something to waste money on …

When Indians are fools , they are the biggest fools , because they have the real

and highest spiritual knowledge , but are instead bewitched by the glitter of

Western style ” progress ”…

P.S. My Guru ( from India ) would have blasted them for that !!!”

So, do we really need such a mission? Can’t we help eradicate poverty and improve infrastructure?