1 2 Vadodara: As India gears up to celebrate its first National Space Day, a ‘factory’ in Vadodara has been working round-the-clock making hundreds of Chandrayaan-3 models , helping the country’s premier space agency — Indian Space Research Organiaztion ( ISRO ) — to celebrate its feat. The Union govt has declared Aug 23 as National Space Day to celebrate the success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, making India the fourth country to land on the moon and the first to land near the southern polar region of the moon. As soon as the ‘Vikram’ lander landed on the surface of the moon last year, two Vadodara-based techies, Aditya Damar (36) and his brother Dhaval Damar (31), started working on miniature display models of the ‘Vikram’ lander and ‘Pragyaan’ rover.
The miniature models became so popular that they now adorn the House of Kalam, the museum dedicated to former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam at the temple town of Rameswaram. They have also been gifted to several VVIPs, including Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, by ISRO chief S Somanath. More than 1,200 miniature models of Chandrayaan-3 have been supplied to ISRO.
“In just 25 days, we had made the first miniature display model,” said Aditya, who, along with Dhaval, an engineering graduate, run Damtech Design, which is otherwise known for developing over 50 apps that are available on platforms including Microsoft, Windows, Tizen, Android, and iOS. “After posting the model online, A P J Sheikh Salim, the grand nephew of late president Kalam, approached us. We supplied four miniature models of different sizes for the House of Kalam, which have been displayed there,” said Aditya, a commerce graduate turned technology buff.
“A scientist from ISRO, Bangalore also bought this model. He liked it so much that he showed it to his seniors, who in turn asked us to make many changes. We visited ISRO, met the scientists, and after several trials, we got success in developing the model that was required by them,” said Aditya.
“Different units of ISRO, including the ISRO telemetry, tracking and command network (ISTRAC) and the U R Rao Satellite Centre, have procured the miniature models from us,” he said. Interestingly, the initial model developed by the techie brothers had to undergo several changes before ISRO scientists finally approved the model. “It was on the insistence of senior scientists that the model now has the mention of ‘The Shiv Shakti Point’ (the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon).
Similarly, the scientists also asked us to prominently mention the date and time of the landing on the lunar soil (23.08.2023, 18.
04 hours), which we have prominently displayed in the model,” he said. The miniature model, with the national flag atop its dome, has the 3D image of the moon’s surface that can be seen by 3D glasses. As advised by the scientists, the model has buttons that reflect the navigation cameras, the eyes of the rover, that clicked the first image of the moon.
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