Chandrayaan's challenges!

As the date of the landing drew closer, I was ridden with anxiety. There were still many days to the full moon. I had half a mind to give a piece of advice, my two cents, to ISRO, “In my humble opinion sir, please try to land on the day of the full moon. That would give you maximum landing area. I feel a crescent moon can be tricky. What if the Chandrayaan lands on the inner-side of the crescent moon, shaped like a water-melon slice, only to find it slide down that entire arc, like the slide in the children’s park? The worst day would be the no-moon day. Poor Chandrayaan! It would look for the moon and wouldn’t find it. It would be totally upset, as though sent on a wild goose chase!” I sent this mail off to the powers that be, but sadly received no response. 

Landing on the South Pole is a difficult feat. Other nations had it easy. They landed on top of the moon. In our case Chandrayaan would have to cling to the bottom of the moon, hanging upside down. It’s like a monkey-baby, desperately clinging to the mother’s belly! One slip and the baby monkey could come tumbling down, right to the place from where it began.

Apparently, Chandrayaan’s final module, is not controlled from the earth. It has its own mind. I was concerned if this module would behave like the pet-cow you sold off, to a distant owner. The very next day, the cow traversed the entire distance, with unerring accuracy, back to the original owner’s cowshed! Chandrayaan’s final module could be like this homesick cow, with too much affinity to the earth, and return to its earthly shed. Who knows?

They say the terrain of the moon’s South Pole is most treacherous- filled with craters and potholes. This point strangely gave me great confidence that the mission will be a success. After all, they would have tried several landing trials in India, in our cities, on our roads. If we managed to land perfectly on our roads, the moon’s surface, even the treacherous South Pole, will be a piece of cake. For once, there was a silver lining to our pothole ridden roads. They were built with foresight, to serve a bigger purpose, that we realize only now.

Another point that worried me sick was Chandrayaan’s landing on the dark side of the moon. It must be pitch dark out there. Imagine being stranded in a foreign city, at the dead of night, that too without streetlights. And further, you were told, there is going to be no morning. Think of the Chandrayaan now. The dark side of the moon, we are told, is always dark. How does the Chandrayaan find its way in the darkness, and search for anything, leave alone presence of water? It would be like looking for a black cat in a dark room, that too a cat, that possibly isn't there!

Further, from the dark side of the moon, what pictures can you send? All the pictures will be jet-black. That wouldn’t bother me.  But those non-believers,  those naysayers out there- how do you convince them these pictures are from the moon and not from a local darkroom? At least, to convince these non-believers, we should land on the sun-side and send some pictures that wouldn’t be questioned.

On the day of the landing, I waited with bated breath. Even after it landed successfully, I waited. There is always a possibility of a slip between the cup and the lip. Like the film Lagaan, the English side thought the match was over and exulted prematurely, only to find the umpire had called a no-ball and the last wicket was yet to fall. I waited till all such possibilities were exhausted and it was amply clear that the Chandrayaan had indeed landed successfully.

Joy knew no bounds. I went over the above original thoughts with my friend. I told him, “I am planning to apply for a job at ISRO!” He said, “Don’t!” From his expression- a mix of alarm and panic, I knew he was doubting my ability. I assured him, “Don’t worry.  What I may lack in knowledge, I can compensate with passion. Also, I can always learn, right? After all, it cannot be rocket-science, isn’t it?”

“It is rocket-science! That’s the whole point!” he shouted and left me high and dry!