Denial of technology only strengthened our confidence and made us look inwards for the best and achieve great heights,” said Mylaswamy Annadurai, popularly known as the Moon Man of India. The former director of ISRO Satellite Centre, in conversation with The New Sunday Express, said the budget management that is unique to Indians helped make low-cost satellites, which is now being given as an example by NASA.
Excerpts:
What do you feel about the success of Chandrayaan-3?
Today after the success of Chandrayaan-3, it looks simple. This shows that even a complex mission can be made simple and more meaningful. This also shows that we can make much further, especially in the backdrop of the difficulties involved. We had our own way from Chandrayaan-1 onwards. Paths to reach other planetary bodies were the same in Chandrayaan 1, 2 and Mangalyaan. Everywhere incrementally improvements were made, which is the main essence of the Indian space program. The Prime Minister rightly said that this achievement is beyond national boundaries. Days are not far in recreating one more continent which is separated by space. It is not an isolated success and there is more in waiting.
What is Chandrayaan-1’s significance for the future?
Chandrayaan-1 is the world’s 70th mission to the Moon. Earlier, scientists had only explored a small part of the Moon. But with Chandrayaan-1, we can scan every part of the Moon through the lunar polar orbit. We announced opportunities for other countries if they wanted us to carry some of their instruments. Around 26 offers came. We engineered the whole mission along with a select six instruments from the US and Europe during Chandrayaan-1. Earlier, there was competition between nations for lunar exploration, but India could pave the way for collaboration among all nations. I think we can carry forward this legacy in future lunar exploration.
Why had the Moon’s south pole not been explored until now?
Initially, the mission was targeting landing on the Moon at a point where it is easy, safe, and secure. Landing at the near side of the moon and away from polar regions is relatively simple because the terrain seems fine. But the discovery of water in the polar regions of the Moon by Chandrayaan-1 has changed the whole perspective. Countries, including Russia, Israel, Japan, and now even China, are all heading there now.
Are conditions different for landing on the South Pole, as other countries attempted but failed?
The terrain is not smooth. Around the equator, it is slightly better, but near the south pole, it’s rough and it is sort of a mountainous/valley-like region. It needs a certain velocity profile to land in a targeted place, which is tough to realise because of uncertainty in gravitational pull. The gravity profile of the Moon is yet to be fine-tuned completely.
If water is there on the Moon, can it harbour life too?
When we carried instruments to check for water and atmosphere on the Moon, many scientists laughed and said the Moon was barren. Our instruments found that the Moon has a tenuous atmosphere and confirmed the presence of water. But we don’t know yet if the Moon can harbour life.
Can you explain the Chandrayaan-3 mission?
We have a spectro polarimeter that will look at Earth from the Moon’s orbit. It will mimic observations of a distant exoplanet. The idea is to know how the polarimeter behaves when looking at the Earth. This is to pick up a signature and we can use the same to probe a variety of exo-planets to find out the presence of life. Year after year, the moon moves by a few centimetres. To know the exact shift, a retroreflector will be kept to understand the dynamics of the Moon system. The old retroreflectors have faded due to dust and other reasons. This new retroreflector can work for another 70-80 years sending light signals and helping us understand the Moon’s dynamics over the years. We are also tracking the thermal conductivity. Like how we have earthquakes, the moon too has quakes and this mission will measure the seismicity around the landing site. Further, using laser pulses and X-Ray emissions, there will be an analysis of the chemical composition to understand the lunar surface by the rover.
Will the rover work beyond 14 days?
The rover is designed to work for 14 Earth days (one lunar daylight) and the battery will not sustain beyond that as there will be no solar energy. However, we are making efforts to make it work beyond the said period by using the ‘sleep and wake up circuit’ method. In this, the system will be switched off and in the subsequent days when it gets adequately heated up by the sun light, we will attempt to turn it on when the systems generate enough heat. However, we are unsure if the system will wake up.
What steps are being taken to speed up research and explore the possibilities of human settlements on the Moon?
Measures are being taken to set up the International Lunar Space Station on the Moon. In Antarctica, life cannot be sustained, but some countries including India have created manned research stations there. Experiments have been made with ‘inflatable habitats’ (tent-like structures) in Antarctica where oxygen and energy are generated using water and the same can be done on the Moon as water is available. Some work is ongoing to explore the possibilities of growing some vegetables on the Moon’s soil. Further, through the media, I got to know that NASA has given a contract to Nokia to set up a cellular network on the Moon.
Are these missions polluting the environment on the moon?
Until we have an alternative fuel, there is no other option. We are talking about polluting the Moon, but we should know that the amount of pollution we are creating with conventional fuels is much higher than any pollution. We are exploring if we can use hydrogen as fuel. When this ‘green hydrogen’ technology is developed in a big way, we can apply it on the Moon as water is available there. Then, there will be no carbon emissions. We should keep researching to find fuels that are non-polluting.
How would you define the transformation from where we were denied technology to now when we have started developing our own technologies?
Technology denial started us on the path of original thinking which made this mission possible. We keep researching to find out what more is possible.
The mission has been accomplished with significantly reduced expenses compared to other nations. What strategies were employed to ensure overall cost-effectiveness?
We tried building one step over the other incrementally. With technological advancements, we can formulate and construct hardware and we have extensively done that. We also built on the things that we already had with us. This helped us cut development costs across all satellites. NASA is looking at our example.
Why is this sudden interest in the Moon? Are there any economics involved?
I think so as investments are directed toward such programmes. The Artemis may even beat Apollo’s mission. Now the steps are being taken very cautiously.
Why didn’t we think of bringing the lander back?
To bring a lander back, you need some more energy, technically that needs a bigger launch vehicle. So far, we are thinking of it parallel to other missions. We are trying to do it with unmanned and manned Gaganyaan missions. Originally, Chandrayaan-3 was configured with a sample return mission, however, that idea was dropped, due to some reasons. If Chandrayaan-2 had succeeded, Chandrayaan-3 could have been a sample return mission. Now, in the next mission, it should happen.
It is said that Chandrayaan-2 did not fail. How does the world look at India now?
Two scientists will never agree with each other. If they do, science cannot grow. It all depends on how you look at it. You can say 99 per cent success and just 1 per cent failure. However, in Chandrayaan-2 we have learnt a lot despite the failure. It was a stepping stone.
Will India play a big role in the Artemis mission now that we have signed an MoU?
Personally, I think India should participate actively in the Artemis mission. We would have outsourced our scientists anyway, but now India itself will play a good role. Now we are being taken very seriously because of our effort in the recent mission. It’s a lesson for the Western media that used to ridicule us.
What is the next big frontier after Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan?
A couple of weeks from now, we will have Aditya L-1. We have another mission called an XPoSat Mission. The Indian Space programme is primarily focused on societal needs. So, from that point of view, more remote sensing, communication, metrological, and navigation satellites need to be built. Repeat missions need to be analysed and focus should be more on making these missions commercial through collaborations.
What is the next big thing? Exploration of Jupiter, other planets?
All our programmes connect to people’s needs. There are two aspects -- one, it’s people’s money, which we cannot afford to spend on open-ended studies and two, we need to have applied science. We are incrementally improving our missions and hoping that the research can help to bring energy resources back to Earth.
Now that Chandrayaan-3 has landed, what is most important now?
The two-way communication between MOX and the rover and the condition of the instruments. We try to see the place where we landed plus a few metres away. At the site where Vikram has landed, we are looking at physical properties and it should not be a problem. But the chemical properties could have been disturbed. That’s why the rover goes around Vikram, collects samples, and sends information.
How far is the point of landing from the Chandrayaan-2 lander that crashed?
It is around 70-80 km. The region is the same. Even the Lunar-25 crashed about 120 km away. Depending on the location you are landing, the day of landing will change. Other than that, more or less, things are the same.
ISRO is at its peak? How do you see the leadership moving forward?
I feel fortunate to have entered there at a very young age and continue to work there. It is the island of centre of excellence in India. The way in which team ISRO works is unparalleled. We are not privatising the institution now only for economic factors, but also to ensure the same work environment continues in a private setup too.
Why are most scientists from South India?
A higher institutional presence in the South is a major reason why more people end up becoming scientists. However, of late the scenario has changed and more people from the North are seen taking admissions in this field.
When two countries get into a space agreement, what are the give-and-take terms?
The concept is nobody takes but everyone gains. What path Chandrayaan-1 showed is that if we had spare capacity for payloads, we asked other agencies if they wanted to collaborate and if they did it would benefit all. If they write a research paper on it we co-author and vice-versa. Earlier companies pitched and the US was getting it done by paying, but now it has changed. We allowed them to make their own instruments and we said we would launch it for you. There is always an understanding of mutual cooperation. With one ground station, India cannot have 24/7 data from the Moon. From our station only six hours of data are available. In the case of Chandrayaan-1, the systems gave up in six months and we sought help from NASA and European stations to help us complete the data. Instead of just six hours, we could get 24x7 data because their instruments are also onboard our system. It all comes down to the sense of ownership, and feeling a sense of association to the mission in space.