LAKHIMPUR: With the successful launch of the LVM3-M4/Chandrayaan-3 Moon Mission, from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre-SHAR, Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on July Friday at 2:35 pm, Chayan Dutta, the pride of Lakhimpur district, has managed to script his name in the Chandrayaan Mission history as third Assamese scientists involved in the much anticipated mission of the nation. It is indeed a good news for the people of Lakhimpur district as well as the State that an Assamese scientist is overseeing the launch control operations of the highly anticipated Chandrayaan-3 mission. With this feat, Chayan Dutta has made Assam proud and Lakhimpur overwhelmed as the scientist was born in the district. He has set an example of success for the rural aspirants with his hard work, perseverance, determination and conviction.
In the Chandrayaan 3 mission, Chayan Dutta, who is working as a Scientist/Engineer-G at UR Rao Satellite Centre, Department of Space, is heading the ‘On Board Command Telemetry, Data Handling & Storage System, Lander, Chandrayan-3’ as Deputy Project Director. In this role, he is overseeing the vital Command and Data Handling subsystem, which acts as the central control unit for the orbiter, managing and coordinating all spacecraft functions.
Son of Ranjit Kumar Dutta and Shilarani Dutta of North Lakhimpur town, Chayan Dutta passed HSLC exam with flying colours from St. Mary’s High School, North Lakhimpur and graduated from North Lakhimpur College (Autonomous) with Physics as major subject. Then he studied M.Sc. in Electronics at Guahati University before he achieved M. Tech degree from the Tezpur University.
The people of Lakhimpur have expressed immense pleasure with the success of Chayan Dutta who has been entrusted a crucial responsibility in the epoch-making mission. On the success of hardworking son Chayan Dutta’s father, who is very reticent, expressed spellbound happiness. “We have felt blessed. I am happy because my son has given the people of Assam an opportunity to be happy. He is not only my son, but the son of Assam”, Chayan Dutta’s father said while interacting with this correspondent. He modestly appealed to the people of the State as well as the nation to pray for the success of the much-anticipating mission.
On Friday, the people of North Lakhimpur town watched the launch of Chandrayaan- 3 with bated breath as a son of the soil was among those at the helm of the country’s third lunar mission. Parents of Chayan Dutta also witnessed the moment of launch at their small shop in North Lakhimpur town along with his friends and customers.
“It is the blessings of everyone which has led our son thus far. We seek their best wishes for more such success in the future,” the proud father asserted. Chayan Dutta’s father, aged around seventy, sells cutlery and cooking utensils from his small shop in the town, which has been the family’s mainstay since 1966. Present scientist, Chayan Dutta regularly assisted his father in the shop while he was studying in Lakhimpur. At the moment of launching the mission, tears of happiness rolled down on the cheeks of Chayan’s mother when she was asked for her reaction over her son’s success.
At present, Chayan Dutta lives in Bengaluru with his wife and a son and a daughter. He last visited home in January this year and had sought his parents’ blessings for the mission when they last spoke over phone.
It is noteworthy that Chandrayaan-3 is the planned third lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It will consist of a lander and a rover similar to Chandrayaan-2, but would not have an orbiter. Its propulsion module will behave like a communication relay satellite. The propulsion module will carry the lander and rover configuration until the spacecraft is in a 100 km lunar orbit. As per report ISRO has set three main objectives for the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which includes getting a lander safe and soft landing on the surface of the moon, observing and demonstrating the rover’s loitering capabilities on the Moon, in-site scientific observation making scientific experiments on the chemical and natural elements, soil, water, etc. available on the surface of the Moon to better understand and practice the composition of the Moon. Interplanetary refers to the development and demonstration of new technologies required for missions between two planets.
Prior to Chayan Dutta, Assam Scientist Dr Jitendra Nath Goswami played an essential role in Chandrayaan mission when it came to Chandrayaan-1. He was the principal scientist of the mission and was also an integral part of the Chandrayaan 2 mission. Apart from him, one more important part of the mission is Dipak Kumar Das. He is presently the director of Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO. The SAC had a pivotal role in Chandrayaan-2’s successful launch.
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