This Tamil Nadu college supplied 3 components for Chandrayaan-2
It was a historic day as thousands tuned in to watch the Chandrayaan-2 landing on the moon live at 2 am on Saturday. Although ISRO lost contact with the Vikram lander, many celebrated the fact that the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter was successfully in place. However, researchers at a Tamil Nadu college were mainly disappointed as they had a stake in it, too.
Researchers, Professors and Doctoral students from the Sona College of Technology in Salem, Tamil Nadu felt that the loss of the Vikram lander merely 2.1 km above the lunar surface was "deeply disappointing." Apparently, the Special Electrical and Electronics Drives Division (SPEED) of the college had supplied three components for the mission and had been rooting for its success (like all of us).
The components contributed by Sona College include a fuel mixer motor, which mixes liquid oxygen with fuel, the Doppler mechanism for Vikram module to guide the laser to ensure a smooth landing, and a robotic arm enabling the Vikram lander to pick lunar rock samples.
Meanwhile, Vice-Chairman Chocko Valliappa said, "It was a momentous day for India as ISRO's scientists got us so near the moon through Chandrayaan-2," adding that people shouldn't be disappointed. Valliappa said, "The landing would've been an icing on the cake, but the orbiter is working fine. These efforts will go a long way in India's quest to unravel what's on the moon."
Notably, this isn't the first time that the Sona College of Technology has supplied components to ISRO. In the past, SPEED has supplied ISRO with special-purpose BLDC (Brushless DC) motors for satellites, rockets, and lunar robots, for space missions, the college said. In September 2017, students of Sona College and five other universities helped launch a student PICO satellite from ISRO facilities.
