Mangaluru: Veteran space scientist and former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Kasturirangan said that although India did not succeed in landing the Chandrayaan-2 lunar rover ‘Vikram’ on the Moon’s surface safely, it should not be considered as a failure and that it was, in fact, a stepping stone to success.
He was addressing the audience during a session on the topic ‘Space – An innovative tool for serving mankind’ that was organised as part of a three-day spinal cord experts’ conference called ‘ICS 2019’ at TMA Pai Convention Centre on Saturday, September 28.
Kasturirangan said, “No success is final and every obstacle is a stepping stone to future success. The Vikram lander lost contact just 2 km above the lunar surface. Despite not succeeding in landing Vikram safely, it doesn’t mean that we have completely failed. Instead, it has provided an opportunity for us to identify precautionary measures that need to be taken in future efforts and where we have to focus exactly to prevent such a failure. We have learnt more information through our Chandrayan-2 mission and this will help us to detect as well as correct the mistakes in our future plans”, he said.
Meanwhile, he recalled the support and inspiring words of Prime Minister Modi. “The space scientists have been receiving very good support from the country’s political leaders since our independence. When ISRO scientists did not achieve the expected success in Chandrayan-2, Modi lauded the efforts of ISRO and he morally supported the scientists with his inspiring words. This is what scientists really expect from our political leaders”, he said.
Manned mission ‘Gaganyan’ by 2022
Kasturirangan shed some light upon the five decade-journey of India’s space programme and also informed the gathering about ISRO’s plans of ‘manned – Gaganyan’ by 2022. “There are also plans to build a space station and launch interplanetary missions to Mars and Venus. Though research on space and launching of satellites requires huge funding, it is inevitable for a country to launch satellites as it provides intelligent information such as information on earthquakes and cyclones which helps us take precautionary measures to prevent such disasters,” he added.
