Chandrayaan2 & US-Af Talks

The Chandrayaan-2 Mission

The failure of the Chandrayaan-2 mission in the last few minutes before touchdown is a disappointment to say the least. The overall mission and the various maneuvers  were executed with  a clockwork precision.  The Vikram Lander separated  from the Orbiter at the correct time and the descent of Vikram was flawless until may be the lander was about a 100 feet from the surface of the moon. After that the communication with the lander was broken and the it came down in a different area than what was decided.

This just shows how difficult it is to operate in space. It is a inhospitable and unpredictable environment to operate in, whether for man or man-made objects.  Efforts are still on to see if contact can be restored with the Vikram Lander.  Regardless of the success of the mission the attempt was a unique one. All the international space agencies were very appreciative of ISRO’s efforts.  The orbiter is doing its job very well and has also located the Lander as it goes around the moon in its orbit. The orbiter will send data about the moon for the next few years.  The mission cannot be called a failure however the chance to drive the lander on the moon and photograph the lunar surface from up close has been lost as of now. ISRO still has about fourteen days to get in touch with the lander. That’s how long Vikram’s batteries were designed to last.

There is no telling what will happen. Perhaps contact will be established and the mission may resume. The lander may have sustained damage during its hard landing. If so. It will have to be seen if the Pragyan rover will be able to deploy and drive on the lunar surface.  This mission did get a lot of publicity in the world press . This is a start for man’s quest to have a base on the moon. Many more missions are planned by other countries and some have evinced interest in working with ISRO in future exploration missions. This bodes well for ISRO as well as the world scientific community. Collaboration in space and pooling of resources and ideas is what will take space exploration to the next level.

Af Talks Fail – A Political Breather

The failure of talks between the US  and the Taliban has been received differently by different countries. The US will not be looking at this very favourably. President Trump wanted an effective US withdrawal from Afghanistan before the next  presidential elections, it now looks difficult. The attack by the Al-Qaida on US  troops and Afghan civilians have brought to the fore that not everybody is on board in this peace deal. The fact that the elected Afghan government was left out of the deal at the behest of Pakistan and the faction in Taliban that they control, also made other neighboring countries apprehensive of this deal.  It was only meant to be a face saver for the US,  as it wanted to get out of Afghanistan and this was a sort of legitimate back door exit that it was seeking. However Afghanistan is a complicated issue and has been for the last century.  No one has ever been able to get all the warring factions in the country to come to terms with each other.  This is the reason why no country has ever been able to rule Afghanistan ever. The Central Asian as well as South Asian countries were not very enthusiastic about this peace deal. Pakistan was trying to dominate the proceedings as it controls the Taliban and it stood to benefit the most by the US troop withdrawal. The withdrawal would have left Pakistan with an open playing field in Afghanistan as the elected Afghan government had little or no say in the ongoing talks. Pakistan would have called all the shots after the US draw down.  Trump’s domestic compulsions were the only driving force behind the initiative. This suited Pakistan politically as well as strategically. The other Asian countries including India have now heaved a sigh of relief. In India’s case the situation was not good. Pakistan would have directed the Taliban to infiltrate in Kashmir as soon as the US influence in Afghanistan would have waned.  Pakistan was also trying to influence the FATF(Financial Action Task Force) Committee to overlook some of its transgressions regarding support to terrorist factions in Pakistan and outside, in view of its influence in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table. The attack on US troops shows that even Pakistan does not wield influence over all the factions of the Taliban. The peace deal would have increased India’s problems in Kashmir manifold. With the situation in a delicate balance after the abrogation of Article 370, India could do without additional Pakistani influence in Afghanistan which could have spilled over in Kashmir. For now at least the situation though fluid is not favouring Pakistan.   There cannot be any complacency as regards the future solution in Afghanistan but the neighborhood and particularly India have got a political breather for now.