Chennai, Apr 5 (Representative) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) organized a two-day workshop on the Science and Data Analysis aspects of the forthcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission recently. The workshop was held at the Indian Space Science Data Centre (ISSDC), Byalalu, near Bangalore. ISRO said the workshop comprised lectures on the Indian lunar exploration programme, setting the context for the Chandrayaan-3 mission, data archival and dissemination aspects, and the scientific experiments on Chandrayaan-3. Extensive hands-on training on the processing and analyzing the laboratory data of the Chandrayaan-3 payloads, and a dedicated interaction session between the participants from the academia and institutes with the scientists from ISRO/DOS were the major focus of the workshop.
The workshop was attended by 50 participants from outside the Department of Space, which included 24 faculty and senior students from Universities and Institutes who would use the lunar data. A total number of 33 Indian academic institutes outside DOS were represented in the workshop. Around 20 scientists from ISRO/ DOS gave presentations on science payloads and conducted the hands-on sessions. Former ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar emphasized the importance of carrying forward the legacy of the space science exploration programme to the students. B N Ramakrishna, Director, ISTRAC spoke about the importance of the mission and the wealth of scientific data from the Indian scientific missions, hosted in ISSDC, which are open to the scientific community for use. Dr. Tirtha Pratim Das, Director, Space Science Programme Office, delivered a lecture on the scientific rationale to study the Moon, and how would the Chandrayaan-3 mission fit in the bigger picture of understanding the solar system.
Chandrayaan-3 mission carries scientific instruments to study the thermo- physical properties of the lunar regolith, lunar seismicity, lunar surface plasma environment and elemental composition in the vicinity of the landing site. While the scope of these scientific instruments on the lander and the rover would fit in the theme of ‘Science of the Moon’, another experimental instrument will study the spectro-polarimetric signatures of the Earth from the lunar orbit, which would fit in the theme of ‘Science from the Moon’. The students got introductory training on how to analyze in-situ data and will be using the data analysis manual for further preparedness for analysing Chandrayaan-3 data. It was mentioned that the in-situ measurements from Chandrayaan-3 would complement some of the remote sensing measurements by the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter by providing the ground truth. The workshop concluded with a feedback session wherein the participants appreciated ISRO/ DOS for conducting such workshops.