Thiruvallikkeni Karthigai Amavasai 2024 purappadu ~ நிலா நிலா ஓடிவா .... நில்லாமல் ஓடிவா .

It takes few  days to send most spacecraft to the Moon, so it's not surprising that humans have sent more missions there than anywhere else. The Moon is also the only celestial body where humans have ventured out !

 

NASA has refined its list of potential landing sites near the moon's south pole for its Artemis 3 mission, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface no earlier than 2026. The nine shortlisted sites, which were released by NASA recently are geologically diverse, and each of them has the potential to provide new insights into rocky planets, lunar resources and the history of our solar system, according to a statement by the agency.  Specific locations within the candidate regions will be selected after Artemis 3 target launch dates are selected, the statement says, because those dates will "dictate orbital paths and surface environment conditions." 

Meantime, in a bold move that solidifies India's commitment to space exploration, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is planning to develop a lunar space station by 2040. This ambitious project is part of the third phase of India's comprehensive crewed lunar mission roadmap, marking a significant leap forward in the nation's space capabilities. The lunar space station initiative comes on the heels of India's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which saw the country become the fourth to achieve a soft landing on the Moon.   The station could play a crucial role in studying the Moon's geology, testing new technologies, and preparing for long-duration human presence beyond Earth's orbit. 

On lunar expeditions, ever heard of Pioneer ?? 

Today [30^th Nov 2024] is  Karthigai Amavasai also  ‘Visakam’.  At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam,  amidst threats of rain and effects of cyclone Fengal, there was siriya mada veethi purappadu.  After the purappadu there was ‘Thiruvirutham’ goshti at Nammalwar sannathi.

 

 

நிலா நிலா ஓடிவா ....  நில்லாமல்  ஓடிவா ....

மலை மேலே  ஏறி வா .... மல்லிகைப்பூ கொண்டு வா....

சந்திரன் குளிர்ச்சியானவன்; சந்திரனுக்கு அம்புலி, வெண்மதி,  பிறை,   கலாநிதி,    நிசாகரன், மதி,   சுதாகரன்,  என பெயர்கள் பல இருந்தாலும் - அனைவரும் கூறுவது 'நிலா" .. .. சிறுவயதில் வீட்டிலும் பள்ளிக்கூடத்தில் இந்த பாடலை பலதடவை கேட்டு இருப்பீர்.   

தமிழ் சங்க இலக்கிய நூல்களில் எட்டுத்தொகையும்,  பத்துப்பாட்டும் = பதினெண்மேற்கணக்கு நூல்களாகும்.  கலித்தொகை சங்க காலத் தமிழிலக்கியத் தொகுதியான எட்டுத்தொகை நூல்களுள் ஆறாவது நூலாகும். பல புலவர்களின் பாடல்கள் அடங்கிய தொகுப்பு நூலான கலித்தொகையில் ஓசை இனிமையும், தரவு, தாழிசை, தனிச்சொல், சுரிதகம் என்னும் சிறப்பான அமைப்புகளால் அமைந்த கலிப்பாவினால் பாடப்பட்ட  பாடல்கள் உள்ளன.  அதில் ஒன்று. : 

“ஐய! திங்கள் குழவி! வருக! என யான் நின்னை

அம்புலி காட்டல் இனிது

Amāvásyā is the lunar phase of the new moon in Sanskrit.  A literal understanding of Amavasai could be ‘black or no Moon’.   On a new moon day, the illuminated part of the moon faces the Sun whereas, the dark part, i.e., the non-illuminated part of the moon faces the Earth. Thus, we cannot see the moon and there would be darkness.

Missions to the Moon have been numerous and include some of the earliest space missions, conducting exploration of the Moon since 1959. The first partially successful lunar mission was Luna 1 (Jan 1959), the first probe to leave Earth and fly past another astronomical body. Soon after that the first Moon landing and the first landing on any extraterrestrial body was performed by Luna 2 which intentionally impacted the Moon on 14 September 1959.  The first crewed missions to the Moon were pursued by the Soviet Union and the United States, becoming the climax of the Space Race. While the Soviet Union shifted to robotic sample return missions, the American Apollo program proceeded successfully, with Apollo 8 becoming the first crewed mission to enter lunar orbit in December 1968. On 20 July 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. At the same time another mission, the robotic sample return mission Luna 15 by the Soviet Union, was in orbit around the Moon, becoming together with Apollo 11 the first ever case of two extraterrestrial missions being conducted at the same time.

Pioneer 0 (also known as Able 1) was a failed United States space probe that was designed to go into orbit around the Moon, carrying a television camera, a micrometeorite detector and a magnetometer. It was designed and operated by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division as the first spacecraft in the Pioneer program and was the first attempted launch beyond Earth orbit by any country,  but the rocket failed shortly after launch. The probe was intended to be called Pioneer (or Pioneer 1), but the launch failure precluded that name.  Pioneer 0 was launched on Thor missile number 127 at 12:18:00 GMT on 17 August 1958 by the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, and was destroyed by an explosion of the first stage of the Thor booster.

Getting to recent news, Japanese space exploration firm ispace is preparing for a second attempt at landing on the moon. The "Resilience" Mission 2 lander has arrived in Florida ahead of launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, ispace. The mission will launch no earlier than January 2025, according to the company, which has not yet announced a precise launch target. Mission 2 follows the company's first attempt to land on the moon in April 2023. That mission ended in failure after an altitude sensor was confused by the unaccounted-for detection of a crater rim, leading ispace's spacecraft to act as if it was closer to the lunar surface than it was.

Here are some photos of Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam on 30.11.2024

adiyen Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar