When A Tip By APJ Abdul Kalam Helped India's 1st Moon Mission Chandrayaan-1

Chandrayaan-3 is expected to make a soft landing on the Moon today. The lander will touch down on the surface of the Moon at around 6:04 PM, said the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Chandrayaan-3 is the ISRO's follow-up attempt after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing on the lunar surface in 2019 and was eventually deemed to have failed its core mission objectives. India's first lunar mission was Chandrayaan-1, during which the satellite made more than 3400 orbits around the moon and the mission was concluded when communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 29, 2009, according to ISRO.

When the Chandrayaan-1 was being assembled, APJ Abdul Kalam visited the ISRO office.

As per a report in The Indian Express, the 11th President Of India back then asked the scientists about what evidence Chandrayaan-1 will exhibit to prove that it had been to the Moon.

When scientists revealed that it would have pictures of the Moon's surface, the former President said that it wouldn't be enough, the report added. 

APJ Abdul Kalam suggested that Chandrayaan-1 should carry an instrument that could be dropped on the Moon's surface, the report added.

It was after this advice that the scientists at ISRO made design changes to Chandrayaan-1. 

Speaking to the reporters after seeing the first pictures of Earth taken by terrain mapping camera on board Chandrayaan-1, APJ Abdul Kalam had said that he was extremely happy after seeing the images and “every Indian should be proud of it.”

India's third lunar mission was launched on July 14 by the LVM3 rocket from Andhra Pradesh's Satish Dhawan Space Centre. With the involvement of almost 1,000 engineers and scientists, Chandrayaan-3 has been in the making for four years, ISRO Chairman S Somanath revealed.

ISRO has earlier informed that the propulsion module will continue to orbit the moon, even after the lander makes the soft landing on the Moon.