Failure of Chandrayaan-2 showed the way: Nilesh M Desai

The failure of Chandrayaan 2 in 2019 showed the way for the Chandrayaan 3’s successful launch in a remarkably short period of time and that the mission will be a success with no need for any contingency plan, said Nilesh M Desai (in photo), the architect behind the project Chandrayaan-3.

- CHANDRANI BANERJEE

In an interview with The Statesman’s Chandrani Banerjee, the Director of the Space Application Center (SAC) shared the journey of his team and their resolve to make Chandrayaan 3 a success despite facing several challenges including the Coronavirus pandemic. Excerpts:

Q:How much preparation did it take to witness this day?

Desai: A Lot. We worked on Chandrayaan-2 for 10 years. Each and every one in the Space Application Center (SAC) and Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) contributed in one way or the other to make this happen. From the moment Chandrayaan-2 did not work, we started preparing for this project. So, a lot of preparation has been done for this day. There are many levels that we have crossed daily to deliver this today.

Q:What was the size of the Chandrayaan-3 team?

Desai: As I said, this is teamwork and it requires years to shape something like this. And each one of us was working on it. So, I would say 17,000 people associated with the SAC and ISRO, all of them have contributed. There are thousands of small little things that require monitoring, observation, and constant attention to construct a project of this level. So, I would say my team is each one of us associated with ISRO.