New Delhi:
Around 70 students are busy packing their bags for Bengaluru to watch Chandrayaan-2's scheduled soft-landing on the moon with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian Space Research Organization headquarters on Saturday. These students have been selected based on marks obtained in an online space quiz contest conducted by ISRO in coordination with MyGov.in from August 10 to 25.
Two top scorers from each state and Union Territory have been invited by the space agency to watch the landing of Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on the Moon from ISRO's centre in Bengaluru.
"...about 70 students in total. They will be watching the landing live along with Prime Minister," a senior ISRO official told news agency PTI.
The quiz was launched to increase awareness about its space programmes. The criteria for selecting successful winners was "maximum correct answers in the shortest time."
The duration of the quiz was 10 minutes (600 Seconds) during which a maximum of 20 questions could be answered, ISRO had said.
"Two top-scoring students (from class 8-10 only) from each state and union territory will be invited to ISRO, Bengaluru Centre to watch the landing of Chandrayaan 2 on the Moon, live along with the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi," terms and conditions of the quiz on the MyGov.in read.
Chandrayaan 2, a three-module spacecraft comprising an orbiter, lander and rover, which was launched on July 22, will land on the moon on September 7.
Lander 'Vikram' (with rover 'Pragyan' inside) is expected to touch down on the surface of the moon on September 7, between 1:30 am and 2:30 am.
A successful landing will make India the fourth country after Russia, the US and China to achieve a soft-landing on the moon. But India will become the first nation to launch a mission to the unexplored south pole region of the Moon.
