New Delhi (Agency): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath celebrated the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on Wednesday and acknowledged the dedication, “pain and agony” of the scientists who contributed to its achievement. He also expressed the organization’s future goal of landing a spacecraft on Mars in the coming years.
Chandrayaan-3’s success marks a significant milestone for India’s space agency, as it makes the country the fourth in the world to successfully soft-land on the Moon and the first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s natural satellite. The mission’s Lander Module, comprising the 26 kg rover (Pragyan) and the lander (Vikram), touched down near the Moon’s south polar region.
Chairman Somanath referred to this achievement as an “incremental progress” and “definitely a huge one.” He praised the technology used in the mission, stating that it was “no less complex or inferior” and highlighted that it was a completely ‘Made-in-India’ mission using world-class components.
The ISRO chief emphasized the difficulty of the journey to the Moon, acknowledging that the soft-landing challenge is still hard to accomplish even with modern technology. He further credited the success to the contribution of a generation of leadership by the country’s space scientists, including key figures behind the previous Chandrayaan-2 mission.
Speaking about future prospects, Somanath expressed confidence in ISRO’s capabilities to embark on more ambitious endeavors, such as going to Mars or perhaps even other planets. “It (success of Chandrayaan-3 mission) gives the confidence to configure missions to not only go to the Moon but also to go to Mars, sometimes (perhaps) land on Mars, maybe in future go to Venus and other planets,” he said.
He also conveyed the greetings and support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for backing further space missions and sharing the Prime Minister’s vision to keep India “very, very dominant in the area of space exploration and science.”
During the address to the ISRO team, Somanath expressed gratitude to all those who prayed for the mission’s success and specifically named ISRO veterans like former ISRO chief A S Kiran Kumar, who had been instrumental in the mission.
Reflecting on India’s space journey, Somanath concluded, “This is the journey we started with Chandrayaan-1, continued in Chandrayaan-2 and Chandrayaan-2 craft is still working and doing a lot of communication work with us. All the team that contributed to building Chandrayaan-1 and 2 should be remembered and thanked, while we celebrate (the success of) Chandrayaan-3.”
The success of Chandrayaan-3 not only cements India’s place among leading space-faring nations but also sets the stage for future exploration and innovation in space technology. The determination and teamwork exhibited by ISRO’s scientists have shown that they are ready to take on even more complex and ambitious projects in the coming years.