Firefly’s blue ghost makes history: first commercial lunar landing & the future of space navigation

While everyone was deeply concerned about Russia-Ukraine war, M23 rebels in Congo, Israel-Hamas fight, trade wars and many other things, a revolution was going on. Texas based aerospace company - Firefly - which launched Blue Ghost on Jan 25 using SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was able to successfully land (and thus become the first commercial company to do so) their the module on moon on March 2. Lander is stable and in vertical condition. Equipment is expected to work for one lunar day (14 earth days). Blue ghost is among a number of private companies funded by NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of Artemis program. In last February, 'Intuitive Machines' landed their module in moon but unfortunately it fell on its side and became un-operational. 'Intuitive Machines' is going again with their Athena lunar module.

The entry of multiple private companies in to space will bring in competition and eventually reduce the overall cost. This will only meake the dream of humanity to start a colony first on moon and then on mars a step closer to reality. If not human colony, probably we may be able to bring in valuable minerals from space and build things here in earth in near future!!! May be moon and mars will end up as launch pads for human race's expansion further in to space. 

Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE)

There are multiple paylods carried by Blue Ghost. Out of that one seems to be very interesting - The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE). This is a joint effort between NASA and Italian Space Agency to see the viability of using "existing GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals for positioning, navigation, and timing on the Moon. GNSS constellations support essential services like navigation, banking, power grid synchronization, cellular networks, and telecommunications. Near-Earth space missions use these signals in flight to determine critical operational information like location, velocity, and time. The LuGRE payload is one of the first demonstrations of GNSS signal reception and navigation on and around the lunar surface, an important milestone for how lunar missions will access navigation and positioning technology. If successful, LuGRE would demonstrate that spacecraft can use signals from existing GNSS satellites at lunar distances, reducing their reliance on ground-based stations on the Earth for lunar navigation".

Ok, long story short. What if future humans have a GPS/similar kinds of navigation system in moon or in mars. Imagine we are driving a shuttle through moon by looking at maps in our mobile!!! and this moble won't need to get signals directly from earth stations but intermediate and may be from moon itself!!! Also there is a 'Moonlight' initiative/LCNS (Moonlight Lunar Communications and Navigation Services) by ESA (European Space Agency); their goal is to create uninterrupted telecommunications satellite coverage between Earth and the Moon; as well as lunar satellite navigation.

There are many more provate companies engaged in lunar missions (see below). 

Blue Moon (Blue Origin)

SERIES-2 (Draper)

Peregrine (Astrobotic)

Starship HLS (SpaceX)

Hakuto-R Mission 1 (ispace)

IM-2 (Intuitive Machines)

In coming years, we will see more commercial launches and declining cost/launch. Moon and mars may no longer remain as final frontier for human race.

Sajeev

References

1, Blue Ghost by Firefly

2, Wired

3, NASA 

Through the land of Chola's - Srirangam Temple

Kaveri river forms multiple islands during its course from Talakaveri to Bay of Bengal- Nisargadhama, Srirangapatna, Shivanasamudra, Srirangam etc. This time our journey was to one such island called Srirangam. Located in Tiruchirappalli district of Tamil Nadu, this island was formed due to splitting of river to two channels - northern one is called Kollidam and southern one retained the original name - Kaveri. After the island, two channels joins at Kallanai. However, a dam there (originally built during the reign of Karikala of Chola dynasty around 150 CE) splits Kaveri to four distributaries - Kollidam Aru, Kaveri, Vennaru and Puthu Aru. 

Srirangam is considered as the most prominent place among divya desam as per Alvar Vaishnava tradition. Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple located in this island is considered as one of the largest working religious complex in the world. Spread over 63 hectares (155 acres) this temple complex has 81 shrines and 21 towers.

We travelled to Srirangam in the last days of 2022. I forgot a lot of incidents during the journey and this is written mostly from the notes and fading memory.  We, here means me, Divya, Gokul and his wife Deepa. We started our journey from Bangalore one hour later than expected. By sunrise we crossed Karnataka border at Zuzuvadi and entered Tamil nadu. Since it was early morning, there wasn't much vehicles on the road and we crossed Hosur, Shoolagiri, Krishnagiri, Kaveripatinam and Dharmapuri. By the time we reached Thoppur, all were very hungry. Especially me!!! So we took a quick break and had breakfast from a road side restaurant.

Then came Omalur, Salem and Namakkal.  After Thottiyam the road mostly goes parallel to Kaveri; post noon we crossed river bridge and reached Srirangam island and continued towards temple. We parked somewhere outside and walked towards the gates. As usual with temples, there were some people who sells tulsi, flowers etc. for devotees. Gokul bought one and we went inside, looking at the massive vimana/tower and walls. Like Rameshwaram, Madurai Meenakshi temple etc., here also there is a thousand pillar mandapa. This madapa was built during Vijayanagar er using granite. Unfortunately, mandapa was closed off for renovation when we reached there. 

Temple has seven concentric enclosures; each enclosure has walls and towers. Two outer enclosures are residential and market areas. Five inner ones have shrines for Vishnu, avatars of Vishnu, his consort Lakshmi and various saints of Vaishnavite tradition. Main shrine for Ranganatha is in the innermost enclosure. 

Other main mandapams are - Sesharaya mandapam (built during Nayaka rule), Garuda mandapam (built during Nayaka rule), Kili mandapam (built around 17th century) and Ranga vilasa mandapam for pilgrim families and groups to sit together and rest. 

Temple also has a thirteen storey rajagopuram, nine storey Vellai gopuram, eight storey gopuram built during Vijayanagara era, seven storied Ranga ranga gopuram and numerous other gopurams.

Srirangam temple also has more than 800 inscriptions starting from 9th century during the reign of Aditya Chola I. An interesting fact is, inscriptions are not just in Tamil but also in Sanskrit, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi and Odia. Some of the inscriptions also contain Grantha characters.  

There are some 81 shrines in this complex. Ranganatha, Ranganayaki (Lakshmi), Chakkaratalvar, Narasimha, Rama, Hayagriva, Vasudeva, Varadharaja, Srinivasa, Gopala Krishna, Dhanvantari etc. There are also shrines for Vishnava saints -  Ramanuja, Nammalvar, Desikar, Thondaradipodialwar, Thiruppaanalwar etc.

An inscription

I planned only a couple of hours to view the temple, that now seems to be a mistake. To view and appreciate the massive temple complex and to see the famous Grant Anaicut canal built during the reign of Karikala Chola and Upper Anaicut dam designed by Sir Arthur Cotton will take time. Should have spent one day here. We were also not able to enter inside the inner shrine - Ranganatha- as the sanctum was closed for some time. 

This temple also has a door, which opens only during the ten days of Vaikunta ekadashi. 

After spending some more time around temple premises; we came outside and continued our journey towards the former capital of Chola- Tanjavur. 

Three Ranga temple

Apart from Srirangam island, other famous islands - Srirangapatna, Shivanasamudra - of Kaveri also have Vishnu temples.

Srirangapatna 

Located in Mandya district of Karnataka has a Vishnu temple. Sine this temple at upstream, it's also called Adi Ranga.

Shivanasamudra 

Located in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. This comes in the middle and hence called 'Madhya Ranga'. Since the deity here believed to represent the youth and hence called 'Mohana Ranga' and 'Jaganmohana Ranga' as well.

Srirangam

This comes at the end, and hence called Anthya Rangam (the last temple). Deity here is also known as Kasthuri Rangam.

Sajeev

Deepa and Gokul

Divya

Did Draupadi really laugh at Duryodhana’s fall in Maya Sabha in the epic Mahabharata?

In the past, there were many statements blaming Draupadi's laughter and her subsequent comment, "The blind man's son is also blind," after Duryodhana's fall at Maya Sabha, as one of the causes of the Mahabharata war—a war that destroyed everything for both sides. This is considered an accepted fact, and subsequently, a lot of folklore was also built around it.

The problem is that this doesn't fit the character of Draupadi mentioned in the epic. However, the super-successful Mahabharata TV serial made it so popular that people actually believed it. So when I heard about Maya Sabha again on a podcast today, I wondered—did she really laugh and say those words? I did a quick search on the internet, and it seems like the serial added these scenes, which were not there in the original text. It looks like, in most interpretations of the epic, Draupadi and Krishna were not even present in the scene at all. Those who laughed were the Pandavas, excluding Yudhishthira.

So, it's probably time for people to stop blaming Draupadi for her laughter at an occasion that didn’t happen.

Sajeev.

Some road trip memories that are difficult to erase

Door can't be opened

Today, I was looking at Google map to see the roads I have covered so far and the roads I still need to. Suddenly, my eyes got stuck on a forest area west side of Ooty. I zoomed in and finally found the place — Mulli forest check-post. I was not searching for the place; but it’s one of those places I may not forget for a long time. Couple of years back, a trip that was so good turned out to be bad just because of two forest guards there.

It was the first trip my mother's elder sister had with us. We were on the way back from Mettupalayam after attending a marriage. While returning, we stayed in Ooty for two days and then headed to Mannarkkad via Mulli. There was not much traffic on the road, and by noon we reached Mulli check post on Tamil Nadu side. We could see the Kerala check post may be 200m away. But TN forest guard didn't let us pass. He mentioned that we probably didn’t sign at an earlier check post at the Canada power house project. It was true that we didn't sign, it was probably open and no one stopped us. so, we simply went in. He asked us to go back some 12 km through multiple hairpin bends to enter the car number (Karnataka registered) there. We talked with him for sometime thinking someway we could escape that. It was noon time and we were at the last leg of the journey. He didn't budge and threatened with filing a forest case; finally we had to travel back to the other check post.

After a while we reached the check post near Canada power house. This time, there was a guard. However, that guy didn’t let us make an entry there either. Instead, he forced us to go al the way back and take the Manjoor- Mettupalayam- Coimbatore road to reach Kerala. That was a long route with forty or more hairpins in total. Also it was lunch time and we were very hungry after two days of continuous travel. What to do. He insisted that we should go back all the way!!! Finally we went back and reached home after ten in the night instead of noon. On the way back, so many vehicles had passed us having Kerala and Tamilnadu registrations. He might have let all of them go (as we didn't see any coming back). Only one car infront of us had to go back. It was one of those moments when I felt so powerless in front of bureaucratic might. He could have fined us, or resolve it some other way. But no...

To this day, I don’t know why those two people—probably in the last decade of their service and having seen the ups and downs of life—behaved that way. It’s not like the road was closed off for traffic. Right in front of us, the guy at the Canada power plant let a car carrying politicians go. Now, I don't remember the name or face of the forest guard at the Canada power plant; can't recall the name of the guard at Tamil Nadu's Mulli border check post. However, I still can’t forget his face nor his words.

Sajeev

The Search Dilemma: When to stop looking and just choose

Which one to select?

Throughout history, we were often concerned about not having enough choices. Options were so limited that making a decision was easy. For example, during the License Raj era (pre-reform period) in Inida, there were only a couple of car models to choose from—just like with most other consumer goods. Essentially, we weren’t burdened by an overwhelming number of choices. But globalization and global supply chains changed everything. Now, if you want to buy something—say, a washing machine— we have a lot of options - wire rage of brands, types, models, and features. Sometimes, at the same price, there might be multiple options with nearly identical specifications. The dilemma is what to pick, in a reasonable time?  

Take watching a movie, for example. During late dinners, we often put on a movie on YouTube. I try to pick a good one, so I search — a lot!!! Every time I am about select one, there is another one to its right, then another one. Then probably another seach. This goes on for so long that, Divya often complains that by the time I finally pick something, dinner might be over. I tell her, 'in a minute' and keep scrolling — by which time she might have already finished eating. And in the end, the movie I settle on is usually no better than the first one I came across. The same thing happens on Prime Video and Netflix. Since I’ve already watched most of the best-rated (Oscar winning) movies, I keep searching for one with great IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes reviews—spending an absurd amount of time just picking something to watch.

It’s not just movies. During long drives, I often need to stop for lunch/dinner but keep on skipping restaurants, thinking a better one is just ahead—only to end up at a place similar to the ones I passed. A couple of times, I’ve even reached areas with no restaurants left and had to drive all the way to the next town to find one.  

Once, while driving from Gandikota to Bangalore, fuel level dropped well below a quarter tank. I skipped a couple of petrol pumps for no specific reason, thinking I’d fill up at the next one. But later there were less stations and then ones I found just had diesel. Some were even closed. I started getting worried, but there was still some fuel left—I could keep going a bit longer. Then we entered a forested area!!! Forget petrol pumps—there was barely anyone around!!! The road was empty, and fuel level dropped to a dangerously low point. Luckily, just as we exited the forest, I spotted a petrol pump at a Y-junction; never been so relieved to see a fuel station in my life. 

A few days ago, I faced the same struggle while picking an audiobook from Amazon’s collection. I browsed title after title, spending an unnecessary amount of time searching. That’s when I realized something had to change — I couldn’t keep wasting so much time just for looking. The real question is: when do you stop searching and just pick something?  

Yesterday, I decided to set a time limit—search for a while and then pick whatever seems good within that timeframe. So, I did just that, found an audiobook, and started listening. A lot of decisions in life is not a life-or-death questions; if the book, movie, or series turns out to be boring or bad, we can always stop and switch to another. That’s far better than endlessly searching and failing to decide.

Do you have any strategies for this? How do you decide when to stop searching and pick one?

Interestingly, mathematicians have an algorithm for this dilemma, famously known as the 'Optimal Stopping Problem' or 'The Secretary Problem'. If you’re curious, you can read more about it in "Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions" by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths.

Sajeev