August 23, 2023 will go down in (ironically) Earth's history as the day the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) super successfully soft-landed the 'Vikram' lander in its Chandrayaan-3 mission to Dombivli...err... the Moon - on the 'never-landed-by-any-country-before-India' South Pole.
Long statement to read? Well, turns out going from Sriharikota to the Moon wasn't a short ride either!
While Indians all over the globe were thrilled about the much-anticipated mission, for at least one kid in the R3K household, because it was an early morning telecast in the States, the mission may very well have been dubbed, the Chandra-yawn! Brother couldn't stay awake if his life depended on it.
As we tuned into YouTube to witness this momentous occasion, couple of things caught my eye.
First, the announcers - a gentleman (explaining in pure Hindi) and a lady (alternating in good layman's English) gracefully explained the current situation, ISRO's past successes and failures with space expeditions and next steps towards the landing, made us think, this script is going per plan. 15-20 mins in, as they gloriously went off-script, the gentleman starts speaking in English and realizes, he is the Hindi speaker and the lady follows suit by temporarily breaking character and speaking in Hindi and then switching to English. So obvious to the casual observer, that even Kirti (who is not known to be attentive while being glued to the idiot box) noticed this semi-laughable matter.
Moving on, as we inched closer to touchdown, I was hoping (and I am pretty sure, most of you were too) that the simulation on the screen would switch to a live camera feed. A little disappointed that while the camera did switch, it was to get the nation's popular Prime Minister to make an appearance. LOL. Burnol moment for the unMODIfied!
Jokes aside, I think, this day truly belongs to the men & women, both past and present of ISRO, who have toiled for years and kept the focus on a complex mission like this, especially after the unsuccessful (or should I say, partially successful) mission of Chandrayaan-2.
Reaching the Moon is just the start of many great things for ISRO, India and India's place in World hierarchy! To think that the landing gear of Vikram etched the Indian Emblem on the surface is a full-on masterstroke! Some genius, them people.
A forward on WhatsApp said IndiaISROcking. In terms of space expeditions and considering samples will be brought back, Indians are truly now Rock Stars!
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