While India is waiting to watch those beautiful moments of Chandrayaan 2's Vikram lander arriving on the moon on September 7, it is going to be more exceptional than that for G Vaishnavi, a class IX girl from Daffodils Concept School, Sindhanur, Raichur District. She will be watching the historic moment live with PM Narendra Modi at Bengaluru's Indian Space Research Organisation Tracking Center.
Vaishnavi is on cloud nine and she says, "I came across a pamphlet calling for participation in ISRO's online quiz on space, which was put on our school notice board. When I informed my father that I would like to participate in the quiz, he agreed to it and created an email id for me. The quiz was conducted from August 10 to August 25, 2019. I attempted it on August 12."
She further adds, "There were 20 questions based on the space and research and all were objective-type. We were allowed only 10 minutes to answer all of them, but I answered them in just five minutes. A few days later, my father got a call from ISRO officials saying that I have been selected to watch the historic Chandrayaan 2 moon landing along with PM Narendra Modi. They also sent a letter through email. Tomorrow, I will be travelling to Bengaluru and I am very excited to watch this moment live on the screen at 2 am."
When we asked how she excelled this test, she says, "I was always interested in reading about space. After my Science teacher told more about India's contribution to space and research, my interest grew further. He also told me about Vikram Sarabhai and other eminent personalities. And, today I am here to witness a historic moment, one we should be so proud of, as Indians."
Here are some facts
India is the first country to make the historic landing on the lunar south pole
The Lander of Chandrayaan 2 is named Vikram after Dr Vikram A Sarabhai, the Father of the Indian Space Programme
Chandrayaan 2's Rover is a 6-wheeled robotic vehicle named Pragyan, which translates to 'wisdom' in Sanskrit. It can travel up to 500 m (½-a-km) and leverages solar energy for its functioning. It can only communicate with the Lander.