Pujo Patrika - Aikatan

When we near the launch, most
of us have a clear picture of the
mission in mind, we decide on a
name. A name that would help
extending this attachment to
fellow Indians. This is more like
naming a new born in the family.
So, once we received the mail,
we did what good uncles and
aunts do. We dived deep in our
vocabulary to find a suitable
name. Some suggested that the
r o v e r s h o u l d b e n a m e d
“Chandra Vahaana”, some stole
the clue and googled the
Sanskrit name for “Chandra’s
chariot ”. Finally, “Pragyan
(wisdom)” was chosen for the
rover. As for the lander, “Vikram
(prowess)” is one of the lucky
names ISRO has been using, a
tribute to Vikram Sarabhai, or
perhaps as a prayer to him.
The “blinking green dot” was
“Vikram” which was about to softland
on the moon, following
which “Pragyan” was supposed
to emerge out of Vikram. When I
am writing this, We are still not
clear about what happened next.
We are trying to establish contact
with Vikram, and the world space
community is extending their
help to us. Around 400 mts from
the moon surface, Vikram lost
contact with mission control. Our
hearts sank.
I n m y f e w y e a r s o f
experience, I have had the
opportunity to work with few
highly dedicated scientists. On
her superannuation day, the
daughter of one such scientist
wished that her mother had
loved her more than she loved
ISRO. Credits to these people,
ISRO is not well accustomed to
failure, perhaps Chandrayaan-2
w i l l s e r v e a s a l e a r n i n g
opportunity.
During our induction training
in ISRO, we are given a tour to
the chief facilities spread across
the country. We started from the
U R Rao Satellite Center in
Bengaluru. This center houses
the spacecraft building facilities
a n d p e r s o n n e l o f t h e
organisation. Most of the
instruments that need to fly
onboard the spacecraft are built
and primarily tested in Space
applications center, Ahmedabad.
Once they are integrated to the
spacecraft at URSC, the ready
craft is shipped to Shriharikota
for launch. At Shriharikota, the
‘Vehicle people’ are by then
ready with the assigned launch
vehicle. The vehicle research and
development takes place mostly
at Vikram Sarabhai Space Center
(VSSC), which is then shipped
and integrated at the launchpad.
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