Smiles vanished, tension took over
08/09/2019 , Praveen S., Bengaluru
The anticipation across the country to watch Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram set down on the moon was akin to the feverish wait of a sports fan prior to a big game.
By nightfall on Friday, #Chandrayaan2 was on top of the India Twitter trends with about 1,00,000 tweets every hour. National Geographic had roped in a former NASA astronaut for its live telecast of the event.
Celebrities across the world — including astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and entrepreneur Jeff Bezos — cheered for India in its second lunar exploration mission.
Some 400 journalists gathered at a makeshift media centre in an expansive lawn at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.
Television reporters and camera persons jostled to get the best shots. A few others were mining information from a few scientists and science writers present.
Defining moment
Four hundred metres away, at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISRO scientists, headed by Chairman K. Sivan, were awaiting the defining moment of their years-long work. As the space vehicle approached its destination, the women and men who had toiled on it, were hoping and continuing to work for its successful soft-landing. Accompanying the scientists at the MOX were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government officials and 60 students from classes 8 to 10, who had won an online quiz of the ISRO.
“The entire world awaits the data from Chandrayaan-2,” Dr. Sivan had said on the eve of the landing.
But the soft-landing itself, Dr. Sivan had hinted, was usually a suspense thriller. “[It] is extremely complex, and we will experience approximately 15 minutes of terror,” he had said after offering prayers at Tirumala on July 13.
Expectant silence
As Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram (named after Vikram Sarabhai) began its descent, an expectant silence prevailed on the ISTRAC campus, with a hush falling over the voluble media centre. Even the Prime Minister’s hitherto beaming face suddenly grew solemn.
Around 1.50 a.m. on Saturday, when Vikram began its vertical descent phase, Dr. Sivan conveyed a message to the Prime Minister.
Ten minutes later when Mr. Modi left his seat, the media guessed something was wrong.
But there was no official announcement. Suspense mounted. At 2.16 a.m., Dr. Sivan, with a slight shake in his voice, said, “Vikram lander descent was as planned and normal performance observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communications from lander to ground station was lost. The data is being analysed.”
08/09/2019 , Praveen S., Bengaluru
The anticipation across the country to watch Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram set down on the moon was akin to the feverish wait of a sports fan prior to a big game.
By nightfall on Friday, #Chandrayaan2 was on top of the India Twitter trends with about 1,00,000 tweets every hour. National Geographic had roped in a former NASA astronaut for its live telecast of the event.
Celebrities across the world — including astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and entrepreneur Jeff Bezos — cheered for India in its second lunar exploration mission.
Some 400 journalists gathered at a makeshift media centre in an expansive lawn at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru.
Television reporters and camera persons jostled to get the best shots. A few others were mining information from a few scientists and science writers present.
Defining moment
Four hundred metres away, at the Mission Operations Complex (MOX), ISRO scientists, headed by Chairman K. Sivan, were awaiting the defining moment of their years-long work. As the space vehicle approached its destination, the women and men who had toiled on it, were hoping and continuing to work for its successful soft-landing. Accompanying the scientists at the MOX were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, government officials and 60 students from classes 8 to 10, who had won an online quiz of the ISRO.
“The entire world awaits the data from Chandrayaan-2,” Dr. Sivan had said on the eve of the landing.
But the soft-landing itself, Dr. Sivan had hinted, was usually a suspense thriller. “[It] is extremely complex, and we will experience approximately 15 minutes of terror,” he had said after offering prayers at Tirumala on July 13.
Expectant silence
As Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram (named after Vikram Sarabhai) began its descent, an expectant silence prevailed on the ISTRAC campus, with a hush falling over the voluble media centre. Even the Prime Minister’s hitherto beaming face suddenly grew solemn.
Around 1.50 a.m. on Saturday, when Vikram began its vertical descent phase, Dr. Sivan conveyed a message to the Prime Minister.
Ten minutes later when Mr. Modi left his seat, the media guessed something was wrong.
But there was no official announcement. Suspense mounted. At 2.16 a.m., Dr. Sivan, with a slight shake in his voice, said, “Vikram lander descent was as planned and normal performance observed up to an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently, communications from lander to ground station was lost. The data is being analysed.”
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