Rohini- on Chandrayan 2
As soon as i read the request made by either by ISRO or Govt [don't remember as to who made the request] to the public , to come forward with a suitable name to the spot where Chandrayan 2 was to make a soft landing , i immediately started rummaging over my stock of names drawn from Hindu mythology .I zeroed upon Rohini.The star named Rohini in the Hindu almanac was the favourite wife of Chandran --The moon god.She stood by him through thick and thin. It is also a star used in astrology and in astrological predictions.
My fingers itched to tap the keys and publish it in my blog and also send it to the the concerned agency.when i came upon a news item about Chandrayan 1 which said that Chandrayan landed on the moon on November 14 and the spot it crash landed is named Jawahar after our first PM.It is his birthday.Which could mean that our very first landing on the moon was deliberately timed to co incide with Nehru's birthday.Technical expertise and political manoeuvring clicked!
This news item put a stop to my name giving quest.Why should i wade into politics?
There was a lot of media hype over the impending soft landing on moon with several TV channels[English ] boasting about India's prowess and gloating over it .There were also a lot of informative discussions with ex-scientists in the panel educating the viewers about what was happening and what was in store.Nearly every channel was beaming news only about the impending landing for hours together non stop thus fanning expectations to a crescendo .
This made me wonder , what if something untoward happened? What if the orbiter and Lander crashed out?Just a momentary thought.I wasn't wishing , but only observing.
I didn't stay up awake to watch the live telecast of landing that was to take place in early hours of 7 th , September but was out of bed very early in the morning eager to know as to what happened to the landing.
Was disappointed that it didn't make it .It had disappeared from the radar when it was very near the lunar surface , just a few seconds away from a touch down .Hence it had in all probability crashed .So near yet so far.Why couldn't our scientists achieve this? Don't they have the cut to make it to the top league in space exploration?The boasting, hype and gloating in the media for hours together before the run up to this final moment made me think in this uncharitable way .
Didn't NASA lose so many astronauts in their space exploration missions?Weren't Kalpana Chawla and others blown to bits just a few kms above the earth on a space shuttle mission?And US is supposed to be the leaders in Space missions and years ahead of us.At least we didn't lose any life.
Then i wondered at the accident or the deviation occurring just a few seconds away from the soft landing .A landing that was touted to make us enter the special league of handful of countries who have engineered such landings in past .Was there a sabotage? My first suspect are the Chinese .Since they have so many orbiters revolving around the moon with one having been sent early this year may be used some ray or missile to derail the soft landing.Would they have done so out of enimity?Next the US has many orbiters .,even they could have derailed the lander out of jealousy.
How ever I kept my hopes alive on learning that the orbiter is very much alive and revolving around the moon and that it could capture a picture of the lander within 24 hours and if it did so then it would mean that the lander is intact and has not broken to pieces. The ISRO chief who was woebegone and looked dejected on 7 th was back to his cheerful self on 8 th and beamingly informed us on TV that the lander had been located .Good news.However the lander with a life span of 14 days was still mute .It was not communicating with ground or with the orbiter.
As per news papers Chandrayan 1 was commissioned by Vajpayee but was completed and sent up to the moon during Congress rule .This Chandrayan 2 was commissioned by Manmohan Singh and it was completed and sent up to the moon in Bjp's rule.
It looks like as if the soft landing was not timed to coincide with the PM's birthday which is but 10 days away.
Maybe the lander may start communicating on 17 the September , the birthday of our PM.
My fingers itched to tap the keys and publish it in my blog and also send it to the the concerned agency.when i came upon a news item about Chandrayan 1 which said that Chandrayan landed on the moon on November 14 and the spot it crash landed is named Jawahar after our first PM.It is his birthday.Which could mean that our very first landing on the moon was deliberately timed to co incide with Nehru's birthday.Technical expertise and political manoeuvring clicked!
This news item put a stop to my name giving quest.Why should i wade into politics?
There was a lot of media hype over the impending soft landing on moon with several TV channels[English ] boasting about India's prowess and gloating over it .There were also a lot of informative discussions with ex-scientists in the panel educating the viewers about what was happening and what was in store.Nearly every channel was beaming news only about the impending landing for hours together non stop thus fanning expectations to a crescendo .
This made me wonder , what if something untoward happened? What if the orbiter and Lander crashed out?Just a momentary thought.I wasn't wishing , but only observing.
I didn't stay up awake to watch the live telecast of landing that was to take place in early hours of 7 th , September but was out of bed very early in the morning eager to know as to what happened to the landing.
Was disappointed that it didn't make it .It had disappeared from the radar when it was very near the lunar surface , just a few seconds away from a touch down .Hence it had in all probability crashed .So near yet so far.Why couldn't our scientists achieve this? Don't they have the cut to make it to the top league in space exploration?The boasting, hype and gloating in the media for hours together before the run up to this final moment made me think in this uncharitable way .
Didn't NASA lose so many astronauts in their space exploration missions?Weren't Kalpana Chawla and others blown to bits just a few kms above the earth on a space shuttle mission?And US is supposed to be the leaders in Space missions and years ahead of us.At least we didn't lose any life.
Then i wondered at the accident or the deviation occurring just a few seconds away from the soft landing .A landing that was touted to make us enter the special league of handful of countries who have engineered such landings in past .Was there a sabotage? My first suspect are the Chinese .Since they have so many orbiters revolving around the moon with one having been sent early this year may be used some ray or missile to derail the soft landing.Would they have done so out of enimity?Next the US has many orbiters .,even they could have derailed the lander out of jealousy.
How ever I kept my hopes alive on learning that the orbiter is very much alive and revolving around the moon and that it could capture a picture of the lander within 24 hours and if it did so then it would mean that the lander is intact and has not broken to pieces. The ISRO chief who was woebegone and looked dejected on 7 th was back to his cheerful self on 8 th and beamingly informed us on TV that the lander had been located .Good news.However the lander with a life span of 14 days was still mute .It was not communicating with ground or with the orbiter.
As per news papers Chandrayan 1 was commissioned by Vajpayee but was completed and sent up to the moon during Congress rule .This Chandrayan 2 was commissioned by Manmohan Singh and it was completed and sent up to the moon in Bjp's rule.
It looks like as if the soft landing was not timed to coincide with the PM's birthday which is but 10 days away.
Maybe the lander may start communicating on 17 the September , the birthday of our PM.
posted by K.C. Sujata at
2:55 AM
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