Simulations and checks on ground and space key to Chandrayaan-3 success: Mission Director Srikanth

DRDO’s Director of Centre for High Energy System and Sciences (CHESS) Jagannath Nayak talked about the indigenously developed fibreoptic gyroscope-based sensors while Group Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani V. Ramgopal Rao shared insights into sensor systems development for commercialisation.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists did a simulation on the ground before the launch and later did another round of checks of the systems in space before going ahead with the successful deployment of the lander on the dark side of the moon during the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, said its Director M. Srikanth.

Addressing the delegates, researchers and students at the inaugural session of the 16th International Conference of Sensor Technology (ICST) 2023 held at BITS-Pilani’s Hyderabad campus between December 18 and 20, Mr. Srikanth, who is also the Director of the Aditya-L1 mission, gave a presentation on the mission, explaining how the scientists went about their task after the Chandrayaan-2 setback when the lander crashed on the lunar surface.

“We were taken aback when the lander failed then. But it did not deter us from our next mission. We did some real-time processing and assessment of the censors and cameras to ensure the lander gets down at the green zone and not at other places,” he explained.

After the payload got separated from the launch vehicle, the scientists did calculations of the inertial systems, engines, imaging sensors and other systems before going ahead with the landing, he told the appreciative audience.

DRDO’s Director of Centre for High Energy System and Sciences (CHESS) Jagannath Nayak talked about the indigenously developed fibreoptic gyroscope-based sensors while Group Vice Chancellor, BITS Pilani V. Ramgopal Rao shared insights into sensor systems development for commercialisation.

University of Waterloo’s (Canada) Shushanta Mitra and RMIT University’s (Australia) Madhu Bhaskaran shared their group’s research on bacterial monitoring using point-of-care systems, and sensor technologies in aged care from academia to industry. University of Hyderabad, India, along with Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, and IEEE Hyderabad Section were also associated with the event.

The conference with a dozen specialised invited lectures and 100 oral/poster presentations, saw participation of over 200 delegates from leading institutions worldwide, according to BITS Pilani Hyderabad’s Sanket Goel.