ISRO scientist who lent her voice for Chandrayaan-3 launch countdown, dies

Valarmathi, an Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) scientist, who lent her voice on countdowns for rocket launches in Sriharikota, has died due to cardiac arrest. Her last countdown was during the launch of Chandrayaan-3, the country’s third lunar mission.

Chandrayaan-3 was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on July 14.

On August 23, Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) — comprising Vikram lander and Pragyan rover — touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat. The landing also made the country the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.

Meanwhile, Isro on Saturday said the Pragyan rover on the Moon has been put to sleep. The space agency hopes to wake it up 14 days later.

The rover is equipped with two payloads, the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS). The payloads that transmit data to the Earth via the lander are turned off.

The Pragyan rover and the Vikram lander had been working in tandem to gather valuable scientific data. The APXS and LIBS payloads are designed to analyse the elemental and mineralogical composition of the lunar soil and rocks.

If the Pragyan rover does not have a “successful awakening”, it will stay on the Moon forever as India’s lunar ambassador