Will the Chandrayaan-2 moon landing be India’s biggest scientific achievement? - The Print, 6 September 2019

In today's Print, I write on India's Chandrayaan 2 mission in The Print's TalkPoint. What makes this mission historic is that India will be the first country to achieve a soft landing on the south pole of the moon. Choosing an unexplored area like the south pole of the moon for landing shows ISRO’s confidence.

For the full piece, click here.

Independent India has had a number of scientific achievements, including the Chandrayaan-1 mission, and it will be difficult to rank them because they are all equally impressive in the context of India’s development.

The Indian space programme itself has had impressive achievements like the successful launch of the SLV-3 in 1980. The recent anti-satellite (ASAT) test is also a significant achievement in the science and technology realm. India has had significant achievements in the nuclear realm too – the nuclear test in 1974 and the setting up of the fast-breeder test reactor. The Chandrayaan-2’s success will definitely earn the mission a place in this group of scientific and technological achievements.

Any landing on the lunar surface or indeed on any extra-terrestrial surface will be difficult, but landing on an unexplored area like the south pole of the moon much more so. It says a lot about the self-confidence of the ISRO and its leaders that they chose the south pole of the moon for their first attempt in extra-terrestrial soft landing. While we can all hope for Chandrayaan-2’s success, what has been achieved so far is remarkable for a country like India.