Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: India’s ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission has been a joint collaborative effort of many, but Tamil Nadu’s soil and several companies like Larsen & Toubro, BHEL, and Godrej have contributed to the Rs. 615 crore project.
It is not just the sons of the soil of Tamil Nadu but the southern state’s soil itself that has immensely contributed to the mission that aimed to land on the southern pole of the Moon on Wednesday evening, the media reported.
The late former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Chandrayaan-3 Mission Director Mayilsamy Annadurai, and its Project Director Veeramuthuvel P, who contributed to the different missions of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have all been from Tamil Nadu.
The southern state has also provided over 50 tons of soil for the Moon mission.
The soil in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal area, nearly 400 km from Chennai, is just like the one on the lunar surface. This enabled ISRO to test and refine the ability of the Vikram Lander module to soft-land on the surface of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Tamil Nadu has been providing the Namakkal soil to ISRO since 2012. This is the third time that this soil has been transported to ISRO for its crucial tests.
The media reported, quoting Prof. S. Anbazhagan, Director of the Geology Department of Periyar University, Salem: “Tamil Nadu has the kind of soil that is present on the lunar surface, particularly that which is very similar to the soil present at the southern pole (of the Moon). The lunar surface has an ‘Anorthosite’ (a type of intrusive igneous rock) type of soil. We have been sending the soil to ISRO soon after it announced the Moon exploration program.”
After the success of the Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008, scientists were gearing up to perform the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which aimed at demonstrating the capability to soft-land on the surface of the Moon. In comparison, Chandrayaan-1’s mission was to orbit the Moon and not land on its surface.
In the Chandrayaan-2 mission, it was planned that a rover would come out of the lander module and crawl on the surface of the Moon, undertaking tests in the process, he said.
Nearly 50 tonnes of soil were sent to ISRO, Prof. Anbazhagan, who specializes in remote sensing and groundwater exploration at the university, said. After undertaking various tests, scientists at ISRO confirmed that the soil available in the Namakkal area matched that of the lunar surface, he added.
He said the soil was available in abundance in places like Sithampoondi and Kunnamalai villages surrounding Namakkal, and also in some areas in Andhra Pradesh and northern parts of the country.
Besides Tamil Nadu and its soil, some key contributors to the ambitious mission are among India’s top companies.
They include:
- Larsen & Toubro, whose aerospace wing supplied crucial components for the launch vehicle of Chandrayaan-3. It supplied critical booster segments, namely the head end segment, middle segment, nozzle bucket flange, etc;
- Mishra Dhatu Nigam: The government-owned metals company supplied critical materials such as the base alloys of cobalt, nickel, titanium, and special steels for various components of the launch vehicle used in the lunar mission;
- BHEL: Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL)’s Welding Research Institute (WRI) provided bi-metallic adaptors for Chandrayaan-3;
- Godrej Aerospace: It provided key engines and thrusters, including L110 for the core stage and CE20 engine thrust chamber for the upper stage;
- MTar Technologies: It reportedly manufactured key parts for the mission, including engines and booster pumps;
- Ankit Aerospace: It claimed to have supplied ally steel, stainless steel fasteners, and specially-crafted titanium bolts which are instrumental in enhancing mission durability and performance; and
- Walchandnagar Industries: It supplied critical booster segments S200 used in the launch vehicle, flex nozzle, control tankages, and S200 flex nozzle hardware.