As the Steel City celebrates the success of MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) in the first attempt, the former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the project director for country’s first two experimental earth observation satellites, Bhaskara-I and II, K Kasturirangan participated in a workshop here and said that the new mission has put the country at par with world leaders in planetary exploration.
The 74-year-old president of National Academy of Sciences, India, was in city to take part in a day-long workshop on ‘women empowerment in science and technology’ hosted by National Academy of Sciences, Jharkhand chapter, at the National Metallurgical laboratory, a CSIR lab.
“It is one the biggest achievements for our country. With this success we are in the club of few nations such as the US, Russia and Europe in achieving the feat and can now work shoulder to shoulder with advanced countries. The project has been achieved at a low budget in the first attempt and paved way for a new beginning for us. We can look forward to more international collaboration especially in remote sensing and planetary exploration,” said the Padma Vibhushan recipient.
He further added that the space programme is different from other countries as “ We aim to explore possibilities for improvement in social sectors like health, education, agriculture, and weather forecast. Our space programme was to ensure benefits to our social systems, for which we have invested much”.
Kasturirangan also appreciated the leadership under ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan, along with the team work of young scientists. He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for his keen interest.
“The Prime Minister has cleared that there would be more mega projects for science and technology for social welfare,” said Kasturirangan .
He further said that though the project was on a low budget but involved complex technology. “It was one of the most challenging task to execute into the Martian orbit in a span of nearly three years. The Mars mission aims at exploring next benign environment after Earth for human survival,” added Kasturirangan.
The newly formed Jharkhand chapter of the National Academy of Sciences ( NASI) India is organising workshops as a part of the programme on Women Empowerment in Science and Technology. More than 145 women participants across Jharkhand State attended the workshop. The organisation represented were from BIT, Mesra, Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi University, Nirmala College Ranchi, Kolhan University, Institute of Forest Productivity of Ranchi, ICFRE, Divyayan Krishi Vigyan Kendra Ranchi, BA College of Engineering, M.G. College, Tata College, Jamshedpur Women’s College, Co-operative College, Graduate College, CSIR-NMl, Ranjendra Vidyalaya, KMPM College and many more.