Valarmathi, the ISRO scientist behind Chandrayaan-3 countdown voice, dies

Valarmathi was a part of the Range Operations Programme Office at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre where she used to announce the countdown on all launches.

Hyderabad: A pall of gloom descended over the sudden demise of Valarmathi, the ISRO scientist, who lent her voice on countdowns for rocket launches in Sriharikota. She died due to cardiac arrest at a hospital in Chennai on Sunday. Her last countdown voice was during the launch of Chandrayaan-3, the country's third lunar mission.

• ISRO Be successful always.
  Valarmathi, May your soul rest in peace. We Proud of you.
  Om shanti 🙏 pic.twitter.com/RFGCx3ioJ5

  — Namami Bharatam 🚩 (@Namami_Bharatam) September 4, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  ISRO Be successful always.
  Valarmathi, May your soul rest in peace. We Proud of you.
  Om shanti 🙏 pic.twitter.com/RFGCx3ioJ5

  — Namami Bharatam 🚩 (@Namami_Bharatam) September 4, 2023

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  ISRO Be successful always.
  Valarmathi, May your soul rest in peace. We Proud of you.
  Om shanti 🙏 pic.twitter.com/RFGCx3ioJ5

  — Namami Bharatam 🚩 (@Namami_Bharatam) September 4, 2023

Valarmathi was a part of the Range Operations Programme Office at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre where she used to announce the countdown on all launches. Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 14. On August 23, the Lander Module (LM) -- loaded with Vikram lander and Pragyan rover -- landed on the lunar surface. In this process, India became the fourth country to accomplish the feat. The landing also made the country the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite. Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation on Saturday said the Pragyan rover on the Moon has been put to sleep. The space agency hopes to wake it up 14 days later.

The rover is equipped with two payloads, the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS). The payloads that transmit data to the Earth via the lander are turned off.

The Pragyan rover and the Vikram lander had been working in tandem to gather valuable scientific data. The APXS and LIBS payloads are designed to analyse the elemental and mineralogical composition of the lunar soil and rocks. If the Pragyan rover does not have a "successful awakening", it will stay on the Moon forever as India's lunar ambassador.