00:00 As we all wait in anticipation for India's first successful landing on the moon, it's
00:06 important to remember the friends who are helping India in this ambitious endeavour.
00:11 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA and the European Space Agency or ESA
00:17 are supporting India, particularly during the tricky landing.
00:20 It was at this stage that Chandrayaan-2 had failed.
00:24 Since the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14, the NASA and ESA ground stations
00:29 have been monitoring the spacecraft's health.
00:32 NASA's Deep Space Network or DSN is providing telemetry and tracking coverage during the
00:37 powered descent phase from their deep space stations at Canberra and Madrid.
00:42 The ESA is also tracking the satellite in its orbit through two of its ground stations.
00:47 The ESA receives telemetry from the spacecraft and forwards it to the Mission Operations
00:52 Centre in Bengaluru.
00:54 The Chandrayaan-3's land is scheduled for touchdown soon.
00:57 The backup support from these two stations is crucial.
01:01 The ESA's 15-metre antenna in Kourou in French Guiana and the 32-metre antenna belonging
01:06 to the Goonhilly Earth Station in the UK were selected for the support based on their technical
01:10 capabilities as well as their periods of geometric visibility to the satellite.
01:15 An ESA official said that the telemetry will be used to confirm the success of the landing.
01:20 The official said that this type of backup support is common during the key moments of
01:24 a space mission such as the landing.
01:26 After a successful landing, data collected by the mission's rover will be routed via
01:30 the lander module to the ground stations.
01:32 These valuable scientific data will be received by the antennas in Kourou and Goonhilly and
01:37 forwarded to the Mission Operations Centre in Bengaluru, said the ESA official.
01:42 Another ESA official said that like many space agencies and commercial companies across the
01:46 globe, ISRO will receive support from the stations of partner organisations instead.
01:51 The official explained that not only does this significantly reduce costs, but it also
01:55 fosters international spaceflight collaboration.
01:59 A NASA official told The Hindu that they receive the telemetry from the spacecraft that has
02:04 the data on the health and status as well as instrument measurements and pass them on
02:08 to ISRO in practically real time.
02:11 The official said that this critical information during the landing phase tells them in real
02:15 time how it is doing.
02:17 NASA's DSN complex in California is also supporting India's mission because it is located on
02:22 exactly the other side of the Earth from India and can be in view of the moon when the station
02:27 in India cannot see the moon.
02:29 The ESA official said that the ISS is a multi-storey spacecraft and that it will be in use for the
02:36 next few years.
02:42 [Music]
