Chandrayaan-3: 4 money lessons from Vikram Lander’s successful touchdown on the Moon

Never before has a nation (and yes, the world as well) watched with such collective bated breaths as a little blip in space made its determined way towards the moon. We learnt terms like rough breaking phase, attitude, horizontal and vertical velocities and more. A new sense of unity seemed to bind us all to ISRO live streaming the moon landing.

Even though most of us couldn’t locate Sriharikota on the map, we were filled with immense pride because India would reach a goal that space agencies around the world have been wanting to achieve. And when we did, what joy!

When it comes to our money, it is not a lesser challenge to make it work for us. Let us be inspired by our scientists who achieved what hitherto was considered impossible: to land on the south pole of the moon.

Lesson 1: Never give up. This is India’s third mission to the Moon

Chandrayaan 1 landed successfully on Jawahar Point on the South Pole of the Moon and sent data back to earth (which included the fabulous possibility of the presence of Lunar Water) for ten months and six days instead of the planned two years. The mission was considered over because poor thermal shielding and the malfunctioning Star Tracker (an optical device that helps in the orientation or the attitude of the spacecraft).

Chandrayaan 2 consisted of the Lunar orbiter, Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover and the mission was so filled with delays (Roscosmos and ISRO had signed a deal, but the failure of the Fobos-Grunt mission to Mars meant Roscosmos could not deliver the lander even though the designs were approved), the science payload created with NASA also ran into trouble, and then finally, the biggest glitch was in the software. The lander crash also doused hopes of many Indians, but the scientists did not give up hope, and worked towards making Chandrayaan 3 successful.

We need to learn from scientists. This determination to succeed. Whenever our money seems to be in a market that is taken over by the bears, we should not give up. Do not give in to the general negativity and pessimism. Discover new methods of making money. Short selling, put options and inverse ETFs are ways you can make money even though the bears are crashing the market.

Lesson 2: Constant course correction is the way

Diverting attention from Chandrayaan 3, let us look at the James Webb Space telescope mission. The mission director says there were 344 Single Point Failures (things that can go wrong) the most that any mission has seen, with 225 being in the sun shield.

One of the reasons why Chandrayaan 2 failed is because the scientists had fixed the attitude in the lander. They had designed the Lander for success, which meant that they did not anticipate any failures. In the camera phase of the landing, the lander overshot the 500x500 metres landing site, the camera oriented to the site, the software tried to recalibrate the landing (remember the lander has to decelerate it’s horizontal speed as well as make a descent). With camera pushing reorientation and the valves not opening This last minute correction made the lander tumble and crash.

Chandrayaan 3 calculated all possibilities, including failure. In your money life too you need to be on the alert and follow your investments carefully. Study the market, and make decisions accordingly. Even people who stuff the money in their pillow guard their money when they are asleep. Be a woke investor. Don’t be fooled by stories of great past achievements. Look at the present value of the financial instrument and see where the future will take your money. Look at the past only as a predictor, not as a promise. Course correction at the right time will prevent disasters.

Lesson 3. Data collection is Chandrayaan’s primary mission

The mission objective is clear. After Vikram Lander makes a landing on the South Pole of the Moon, the rover will emerge and collect and analyse soil samples from the surface of the moon, seeking out the water molecules that were detected during the first mission.

In our money life too we need to have specific goals. How much growth do you expect, and what are the steps you should take in order to achieve your goals and so on. Also, you must look at the investment trends, and analyse the data in order to make the right decisions before you invest your money in any scheme.

Lesson 4: Improved technology goes a long way

The success of Chandrayaan 3 came about not only with the updated software, but they improved on just about every aspect of the Vikram Lander. They have updated all the software that was recreated to include incremental raisings; ensured that live images would be sent continuously; before take off they performed cold and hot series of tests and improved the legs of the Lander Module (the weight of the Lander is 1739.86 kgs which includes the weight of the rover being 26 kgs); the landing area on the unexplored South Pole of the moon has been increased to 4 km by 4 km instead of 500 x 500 metres; the Vikram Lander has better cameras and a Laser doppler velocimeter; they increased the Thrust control attitude as well as the Thrust valve slew rate to alter changes better.

If we learn from Chandrayaan 3 Mission, the biggest lesson is to learn to use technology in order to achieve success. You can choose the many options available to you. Trade from your phone, read about tips. And yes, call your money manager because you need a team around you.

Make success your mission and work towards achieving your financial goals.

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.