Chandrayaan II 'lander' locations identified: ISRO

At a function to pay a “spectral tribute” to the Nobel Laureate Sir C V Raman, who on this date in 1928 announced the discovery of the “Raman Effect” to the world and now being observed as “National Science Day,” Dr M Pitchaimani, General Manager in charge of all the satellite operation control at ISRO, Bangalore, said these possible lander locations on the lunar surface were zeroed in with the help of data gathered by “Chandrayaan I.”

Dr Pitchaimani, presented on the occasion with the Seventh Annual Sir J C Bose Memorial Award to commemorate the historic announcement of Sir C V Raman and instituted by the “Indian Science Monitor,” a Chennai-based magazine, said an important agenda of “Chandrayaan I,” which orbited the moon for 312 days, was to find a location “to place a lander.”

Heading the team that continuously monitored the satellite’s health for 312 days it was in an orbit 100 km from the moon, Dr Pitchaimani said apart from the enormous and very valuable data collected by Chandrayaan I through its cameras and sensors on board, the moon mission was also in pursuance of several fundamental issues like how to use the lunar orbit as an “outpost” by ISRO to study “deep space” in future, and the consequences of the moon drifting away from the earth at a rate of 3.8 cm per year. Dr K Sundara Raman, scientist in charge, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Kodaikanal Observatory and Dr Samuel Paulraj, chairman of School of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, Madurai Kamraj University were among the other scientists conferred with the J C Bose Award for their respective work.

Awards were conferred on teachers and others from different fields for their creative contribution in taking forward the scientific quest, including Sheila Lawrence, principal, CSI, Ewart Matriculation School, Chennai, Kiruthiga Udhyanidhi, editor, “INBOX 1305,” a Chennai-based magazine that focuses on contributions by little known people to scientific applications, and Dr E Padmini, associate professor, Department of Biochemistry, Bharathi Women’s College, Chennai.
DH News Service