For India, the third week of August 2023 is a week of intrigue, excitement, and high spirits.
On Monday, Indian chess Grandmaster (GM) R.Praggnanandhaa lifted the nation’s morale by reaching the FIDE World Cup finals after defeating world number three, American GM Fabiano Caruana.
Praggnanandhaa earned a spot in the Candidates Tournament, which will be held in Canada next year. The victor of the Candidates Tournament will compete for the world title against Chinese GM Liren Ding, the reigning world champion.
The question now is whether Praggnanandhaa will defeat world number one, Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen, to win the World Cup.
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Praggnanandhaa defeated world number two Hikaru Nakamura of the United States in one of the previous rounds.
After defeating the world Nos. 2 and 3 in the competition, would Praggnanandhaa be able to overcome the world No. 1? That is the subject being discussed in chess circles right now.
The answer will be revealed on Tuesday, while the two players compete on the 64-square board in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Aside from chess, the concern in the space sector is whether India will be lucky enough this time to gently land its moon lander near the South Pole after its failure in 2019.
The Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Chairman S.Somanath issued a reassuring message, stating that the lander will be able to soft land even if all of its sensors and two engines fail, and that the primary goal of Chandrayaan-3 will be met.
The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft consists of a propulsion module weighing 2,148 kg, a lander weighing 1,723.89 kg, and a rover weighing 26 kg.
The lander module recently separated from the propulsion module, which is likewise circling the moon at an altitude of 25 km x 134 km.
Suspense and excitement are growing across the country as India prepares to soft-land its lander on the moon on Wednesday evening.
The Rs 600 crore Chandrayaan-3 mission is scheduled to give 19 minutes of dread, suspense, and excitement for Indian space agency officials and others when the lander carried by the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft begins its fall into the lunar soil.
The Vikram lander, which was part of the Chandrayaan-2 project a few years ago, crashed on the moon during the final phase of the landing.
The tragic disaster of Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft on the moon adds to the fear, tension, and excitement surrounding Chandrayaan-3’s lander.
According to ISRO, the lander will begin its lunar landing descent at 5.45 p.m. on Wednesday and will touch down at 6.05 p.m.
The soft landing is a difficult issue since it requires a sequence of sophisticated actions that include both rough and precise braking.
Prior to landing, imaging of the landing site region will be performed to identify safe and hazard-free zones.
The powered descent of the lander will take place from an altitude of 25 km, according to the Indian space agency.
In a horizontal posture, the lander will be rushing towards the moon at a speed of around 1.6 seconds per km. Officials from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are seated at the Mission Operations Complex at the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking, and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bengaluru. In a method known as rough and fine braking, ISTRAC in Bengaluru will remotely apply the lander brakes by reducing the speed.
The harsh braking will last approximately 11 minutes, with the remainder being fine braking.
The lander’s orientation will be altered to vertical, and the vehicle will hover over the moon, collecting photos and surveying the landing zone to determine a safe landing location.
