Page 51 - 31OCT2019E

Science

But can the ISRO chairman, K. capabilities have grown over the centu-
Sivan’s comments that the mission ries, by employing alternative methods
achieved 90-95% success be called to succeed the next time.
logical? There have been many refuta- However, the setback isn’t a big deal
tions of this claim even by the scien- for ISRO, which has mastered its space
tists associated with ISRO, given that mission capabilities over the decades
the orbiter hadn’t even started making and has been doing better on every new
observations even when the no fate mission. India’s indigenous space capa-
was known of the lander. The immense bilities have grown tremendously over
hype around Chandrayaan-2 was the years. Advancing from SLV to GSLV
because of the fact that it represented MK III launchers, ISRO has become a
India’s first attempt at controlled land- globally acknowledged space agency,
ing on the moon, which would have helping even advanced countries with
put on the map of select few countries satellite launches. The Chandrayaan-2
having achieved such a feat. Moon mission setback has not deterred the
landing was the essence of this mis- spirit of the organisation. India is due to
launch its first manned mission, called
The Chandrayaan-2 the Gaganyaan, to the near earth orbit
by 2022. The agency will need an entire-
Orbiter is not limited ly different infrastructure for the three
to orbiting the Moon, astronauts who are scheduled to fly in
the spacecraft, including the training
it is also keeping a and creating a sustainable environ-
watch at other key ment inside the craft, which the agency
will be attempting for the first time.
celestial bodies of Considering the success rate that
our solar system. The ISRO has been commanding over the
decades, it will not be reasonable to
mission, according to judge the capability of the organisa-
ISRO, has observed tion for a single failure, even when
other nations have also failed at their
solar flares with the first attempts at moon landing. The
prestigious agency continues to work
help of the Solar on its other missions, including the
X-ray Monitor which Gaganyaan, with full enthusiasm. It
has also announced that the next
is fitted onboard attempt to land on the moon will
happen soon and this time it’s going
to be a success. The Vikram setback
sion. And that objective clearly wasn’t notwithstanding, the Chandrayaan-2
achieved. orbiter continues to send phenomenal
It’s not clear if the colossal media lunar data back to earth, which will
hype generated around the mission had surely help in its future exploration.
forced the ISRO chief to do firefighting The lessons learnt in this mission will
and issue such statements. India has be used to build a relatively flawless
already sent a mission to moon, called spacecraft system which is bound to
Chandrayaan-1, in the past, which was succeed the next time. ISRO remains
more of a technology demonstrator one of the most successful public sec-
mission. However, the curiosity this tor scientific institutions in the coun-
time was all about the moon landing. try, having carved a niche in the space
Failures are a part of scientific advance- applications and launch capabilities
ments. There is nothing to be ashamed around the world. And it’s only to going
or demotivated about such mistakes as to get better in the years to come.
one happens to always learn from such
shortcomings. It’s how our scientific letters@tehelka.com

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