The nation needs feel neither shame nor sadness at the premature termination of the Chandrayaan-1 mission to the moon. No doubt the mission, undertaken at a cost of Rs.380 crore, apart from being an essay at advancing the cause of Indian space research, was simultaneously projected as a showpiece. It marked India’s entry into an elite club which had literally ‘reached for the moon’, apt achievement for an advancing country destined to be a superpower in the future. The fact that China, always a rival in international perception, is also a member of the club had been one of the spurs that had goaded India into sending an unmanned spacecraft to orbit the moon and gather specific data. As asserted by authorities at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at the time of the launch, this mission had merely been a prelude to a manned lunar probe by India in the none too distant future. Unfortunately, Chandrayaan-1, which carried ten scientific payloads and had the key objectives of mapping the lunar surface and studying the satellite’s environment, developed snags within ten months of its intended two year life-span in lunar orbit. In an effort to prolong India’s first foray into deep space ISRO had raised the orbit of the spacecraft from 100 to 200 km away from the moon in May this year, but apparently this did not help save the mission.
But the premature termination of the mission due to loss of contact and control cannot be viewed in a negative light, because the gains have far outweighed the losses. One recalls that pioneering countries such as the erstwhile USSR and the US had suffered numerous failures and spent billions before being able to put a spacecraft into the lunar orbit. No doubt our scientists had benefited from the experience of those nations and the data and technologies that evolved from their failures. Even then ISRO’s feat of placing a spacecraft successfully into the lunar orbit at the very first attempt is one unmatched by other nations and testifies to Indian scientists’ expertise. Also, with Chandrayaan-1 having completed 3,400 orbits around the moon and sent over 70,000 images and other data to the ISRO station, a large segment of the key objectives have already been met. No doubt the experience gained by Indian space scientists will aid them in aiming even higher and attaining greater success in forthcoming missions. However, one worrisome factor in this episode had been ISRO’s lack of transparency prior to the abortion of the mission. For instance, ISRO officials in May had asserted that there was nothing wrong with the spacecraft and the change in orbit was done to study the gravity of the moon better, an assertion which on hindsight now appears to be an unacceptable attempt to conceal facts from the general public. ASSAM TRIBUNE
But the premature termination of the mission due to loss of contact and control cannot be viewed in a negative light, because the gains have far outweighed the losses. One recalls that pioneering countries such as the erstwhile USSR and the US had suffered numerous failures and spent billions before being able to put a spacecraft into the lunar orbit. No doubt our scientists had benefited from the experience of those nations and the data and technologies that evolved from their failures. Even then ISRO’s feat of placing a spacecraft successfully into the lunar orbit at the very first attempt is one unmatched by other nations and testifies to Indian scientists’ expertise. Also, with Chandrayaan-1 having completed 3,400 orbits around the moon and sent over 70,000 images and other data to the ISRO station, a large segment of the key objectives have already been met. No doubt the experience gained by Indian space scientists will aid them in aiming even higher and attaining greater success in forthcoming missions. However, one worrisome factor in this episode had been ISRO’s lack of transparency prior to the abortion of the mission. For instance, ISRO officials in May had asserted that there was nothing wrong with the spacecraft and the change in orbit was done to study the gravity of the moon better, an assertion which on hindsight now appears to be an unacceptable attempt to conceal facts from the general public. ASSAM TRIBUNE
No comments:
Post a Comment