It was no less than a space journey for the students of Delhi University’s Hindu College on Tuesday. Taking a cue from several of India’s failed rocket ventures, Member (Science), Planning Commission and former ISRO chief, Dr Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan instilled in the ‘young minds’ to be confident and take failures as stepping stones towards success.
Kasturirangan, who was responsible for directing India’s space programme for nine years, narrated how the country, against developed giants like the USA and Britain, managed to make its mark in space research. “We have evolved and reached to this point of merit all by ourselves. When we stepped into the world of satellites, developed countries had already achieved several milestones. We did not get any help from other nations, it was all by ourselves. Now we have reached a point where by September our Mars mission will reach its epitome,” said Kasturirangan at the 115th Founder’s Day of Hindu College.
He further went on to say that failure, teamwork, confidence, out-of-the-box thinking and effective communication were the essence of fulfilling one’s dream. “I am telling the story of India’s space journey till date because it has been a tough one and we all can take inspiration from it to chase our dreams in real life. Opportunities today are unlimited, but we should not lose grip as the art lies in choosing the right opportunity and excelling,” he added.
Under Kasturirangan’s leadership, the nation witnessed several major milestones, including the successful launching and operationalisation of the India’s prestigious launch vehicles, the Polar Satellite launch Vehicle (PSlV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite launch Vehicle (GSlV). Further, he also oversaw the development and launching of some of the world’s best civilian remote sensing satellites, IRS-1C and IRS-1D, realisation of new generation INSAT communication satellites, besides ocean observation satellites IRS-P3/P4.