Chandrayaan 2 moon landing: PC Ghosh (Left) and Surendra Paul (Right) express excitement.
The community of space scientists is excited about the soft landing of Chandrayaan 2 on moon's south polar region between 1:30 am to 2:30 am tonight. Anxious and proud, the space scientists are all praises for Chandrayaan 2, India's ambitious lunar exploration mission, that will uncover the mystery of moon's south pole.
"After we successfully land on the lunar surface, we will become the shining beacon in the world of space. This will prove to the world that India is on its way to becoming one of the biggest space powers in the world," scientist PC Ghosh told news agency ANI.
He said that it will be a momentous occasion when the Vikram lander touches down on the moon.
Former ISRO scientist Surendra Paul said that the last 15 minutes of the landing will be the most significant.
"The soft-landing will be very important because it is a very complex mechanism and involves various technologies. This will be a milestone for the country and the world," he said.
Echoing similar sentiments, space scientist RC Kapoor said that the people of the country have been waiting for this day for a very long time.
"The mission Chandrayaan-2 has been proposed even before the Chandrayaan-1 was launched. We have been waiting for this day for a very long time. We hope that the landing is smooth and hazard-free," Mr Kapoor said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and about 60 schoolchildren will see the historic landing live from the space agency's control room in Bengaluru. These students were selected on the basis of an online space quiz last month.
The Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft will be the first Indian expedition to carry out a soft landing on the lunar surface. This mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to conduct a soft landing on the moon.
The Chandrayaan 2 mission took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 22. India's second mission to the moon was approved by the cabinet in September 2008, just before the launch of Chandrayaan 1.
India's Chandrayaan 2 Mission's budget is less than 1/20th of USA's NASA. The Chandrayaan 2 mission thus stands out because of its low cost, with just about Rs 1,000 crore spent.