Chandrayaan-3 success: Triumph of Indian innovation, human capital, says ex-NASA official   – BusinessToday

Former NASA official Mike Gold said Chandrayaan-3’s success is a victory of Indian innovation, human capital and the capabilities that will take India further. He also mentioned that what makes the success of Chandrayaan-3 amazing is the “relatively little amount of resources that India has used”.  

Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander and Pragyaan Rover on Wedenesday made a successful soft touchdown on the lunar South Pole. With this, India has become the fourth country to successfully conduct a soft landing on the Moon’s surface.  

“It is amazing to have the success that Chandrayaan-3 had given the relatively little amount of resources that India has used, it is just a triumph of Indian innovation, human capital and the capabilities that will take India even further,” Gold was quoted as saying by ANI. Mike Gold is currently the Chief Growth Officer of Redwire Space, an American aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure company.  

“This (Chandrayaan-3) mission will gather invaluable data to help drive our understanding of the Moon, our ability to utilise resources and ultimately where we’re going to establish settlements on the Moon. Whether the mission succeeds in landing or not, the mission itself, in my opinion, is an overall success,” he further noted.  

The Redwire Space Chief Growth Officer also mentioned that Chandrayaan-3 will take NASA and ISRO’s collaboration to the Moon.  NASA and ISRO’s collaborative projects focus on Earth at present.  

Chandrayaan-3 will conduct a series of scientific experiments on the Moon in its life span of 1 lunar day or 14 Earth days. Vikram Lander’s payloads will measure density of changes in near-surface plasma comprising ions and electrons, thermal properties of the Moon’s surface near polar regions, seismicity around the landing site and delineating the structure of the lunar crust and mantle.  

These payloads will also conduct an experiment to understand the dynamics of the Moon system. Pragyaan rover’s payloads will do qualitative and quantitative elemental analysis to get a better understanding of the lunar surface.  

Propulsion module’s Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth (SHAPE) payload is designed to probe a variety of exo-planets, essential to prove the presence of life. The information collected will be utilised when India decides to go on the Moon in the future either as part of an international collaboration or on its own.