'Let Us Pray...': Says Assam Man, Father of Chandrayaan-3 Scientist

In Assam's Lakhimpur, Rajani Kumar Dutta is among a billion Indians hoping and praying for the success of Chandrayaan-3, India's (potentially) history-making lunar mission which will attempt a soft landing on the Moon's surface at 6.04 pm.

Like Indians across the world, Mr Dutta, a businessman, is excited and anxious. However, he has a special interest in Chandrayaan-3 - his son, Chayan Dutta, leads the Indian Space Research Organisation's Mission Launch and Landing Control Centre and the charge for glory in the space race.

With the countdown for Chandrayaan-3's soft landing having begun, Mr Dutta is joined by millions of Assamese rooting for one of their own - Chayan Dutta, the Deputy Project Director for the Chandrayaan-3 mission - and praying for greater success than Chandrayaan-2.

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"Last time, at the last moment, there was an accident. This time, let us keep praying for a good soft landing. I am also praying and the entire country is doing it also," he told NDTV.

The father in Mr Dutta also remembers the heartbreak and disappointment his son faced after Chandrayaan-2's lunar lander failed to complete a soft landing. "I still can't forget the last time... my son called me a cried like a child to say he had 'failed'... this time we are keeping our fingers crossed."

Who is Chayan Dutta?

Chayan Dutta is an alumnus of the Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering from Assam's Tezpur University and North Lakhimpur College (Autonomous).

READ | What After Chandrayaan-3? ISRO's Long List Of Missions After Moonshot

He is now a scientist/engineer at the UR Rao Satellite Centre - which operates under the Department of Space - in Bengaluru. Dutta was also part of the Chandrayaan 2 mission.

Chandrayaan-3 Landing Details

Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to land on the Moon at 6.04 pm, preceded by what scientists have called '20 minutes of terror' while the landing craft gets into its final position.

The landing site has been chosen with care. The area - which yielded traces of water - is expected hold the key on lunar water ice, which could be a hugely valuable resource.

That there is water on the moon's surface was detected by a NASA instrument aboard the ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 probe in 2009.

The suspense has been ratcheted up by the failure of Russian moon mission Luna-25, which crashed on the moon surface on Sunday during landing. In 2019, the Chandrayaan-2 mission had failed to land safely in the same area, which is full of craters and deep trenches.

Space agency ISRO has expressed confidence that the landing will take place without a hitch, as the scientists have incorporated all the valuable lessons they learnt from Chandrayaan-2.