From people to soil: The Tamil connection to India’s lunar missions

All three unmanned missions to the moon by India have had a Tamil connection, besides two villages in Tamil Nadu that have been providing rock powder (soil) for Chandrayaan-2 and 3 for the mission capability as the earth in that district is similar to that of the lunar surface.

From Chandrayaan-I to Chandrayaan-III, all the missions have been headed by scientists hailing from Tamil Nadu. While Mylswamy Annadurai was the project director of Chandrayaan-I in 2008 that found water on the moon for the first time, the second lunar mission was helmed by M Vanitha, who passed out from the prestigious College of Engineering, Guindy, popularly known as Anna University.

P Veeramuthuvel, a native of Villupuram and son of a railway employee, is the project director of Chandrayaan-3 and began his career at the Lakshmi Machine Works in Coimbatore, before moving to Bengaluru to work with the helicopter division of Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) to pursue his interest in aerospace research. 

 

Sittampoondi and Kunnamalai in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu have been supplying rock powder (soil) for ISRO since 2012 after the agency was in need of soil to test Chandrayaan 1's landing. 

Annadurai told DH that ISRO began looking for lunar simulants, which were bought from the US at a cost of $150 per kg, as they needed the material or something equivalent to it in huge quantities to test the rover in a realistic environment.

 “When we were looking for similar simulants, we found the rocks in the Namakkal area possessed the same quality. We then asked Periyar University, Salem and NIT, Trichy to explore the rocks and we could match it,” Annadurai said. 

“We needed the simulant to test the systems in a realistic environment. And when we tested with the rock powder from the Namakkal area, it worked fine,” the scientist added. 

Compared to the cost of the simulant from the US, the rock powder from TN helped not just save cost but ensured India is not dependent on the US. For Chandrayaan-2, nearly 100 tonnes of rock powder were sent from the two villages. 

An hour after Vikram, the lander, made a soft and safe landing on the lunar surface, Chief Minister M K Stalin took to social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter to congratulate ISRO and take pride in three Tamils having worked in successive missions.

 “The successful lunar landing of #Chandrayaan3 brings an immense sense of accomplishment to Tamil Nadu. The three #Chandrayaan missions have been led by exceptional minds from Tamil Nadu - Mylswamy Annadurai, M Vanitha, and now P Veeramuthuvel. Their dedication and expertise inspire us all,” Stalin wrote on X.

“I encourage the young talents of #TamilNadu to follow in their footsteps and contribute to our #India's journey of progress,” he added.