ETV Bharat Exclusive: 'soul of Vikram Sarabhai happy after this great achievement', says GCST Scientist on Chandrayaan-3 success

After the successful soft landing of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3, Gujarat Council of Science and Technology scientist Narottam Sahoo said that it is because of Vikram Sarabhai's efforts that we were able to achieve this great feat.

Gandhinagar (Gujarat): India scripted history with the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole region of the Moon. With this, India became the first country to land on the Moon's south pole and join an elite club of countries to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface after the United States, erstwhile Soviet Union, and China. The Vikram lander successfully touched down at 6:04 p.m. on Wednesday.

Lander Vikram touched down on the Moon and deployed rover Pragyan which will carry out in-situ chemical analysis of the lunar surface. The information that will be shared by the Chandrayaan will be useful not only to India but to the entire world. Gujarat Council of Science and Technology scientist Narottam Sahoo said that the souls of ISRO scientist Vikram Sarabhai and former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam will be happy after this great achievement.

In a conversation with ETV Bharat, scientist Narottam Sahoo said, "Chandrayaan-3 was successful in making a soft landing on the south pole region of the Moon. This is an incredible feat. The research done by the spacecraft will show whether the south pole of the moon is a habitable place. The landing gives confidence to configure missions to go to Mars, Venus, or even other celestial bodies besides the Moon. This accomplishment is a powerful restatement of the growing global stature and capability of India in science and technology."

Sahoo said, "Pragyan, the rover will collect information and send it to Vikram, the lander. The lander will then report to the central orbiter which is at 100 kilometers from the lander. The orbiter will transmit information to the space station here. Based on this information, the ISRO scientists will conduct research on the availability of water, air or soil on the Moon. The composition of water will also be checked on the moon. Suppose if hydrogen and oxygen are found, a different compound necessary for life can be formed."

"The scientists will also study the seismic pattern of the Moon to know whether we can construct anything on the lunar surface. One day on the Moon is equal to two weeks on Earth. Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover will continuously work without a break to observe Moon's movements", Sahoo added.

Talking about naming the lander Vikram, Sahoo said, "Lander Module Vikram is named after Vikram Sarabhai who is widely known as the father of the Indian space programme. The name Vikram was given to the lander during the time of Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. He was a scientist from Gujarat. It is because of the efforts of Vikram Sarabhai that we were able to achieve this great feat."