ISRO Chief S Somanath Confident Of Scientific Breakthroughs As Chandrayaan-3 Rover Sends Crucial Data

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Saturday said that most of the scientific mission objectives of Chandrayaan-3 are going to be met now and the team at ISRO is looking excitedly for the next 13-14 days. “Most of the scientific mission objectives are going to be met now. Lander and Rover all of them are switched on. I understand that all the scientific data is looking very good. But we will continue to measure a lot of data from the Moon in the coming 14 days. And we hope that we will make a really good breakthrough in science while doing so. So we are looking excitedly for the next 13-14 days,” ISRO chief S Somanath said. 

He also expressed his happiness about the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the control centre in Bengaluru.  “We are extremely happy with the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon and also the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on Saturday at the control centre,” he said. 

Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was accorded a warm reception as he arrived at the ISRO headquarters in Bengaluru. He met the team of scientists with the Indian Space Research Organisation, who were involved in the country’s third lunar mission — Chandrayaan-3. India entered record books as the first country to successfully place a lander on the unexplored lunar South Pole on Wednesday evening.

PM Modi, who followed the final moments of the touchdown of the lunar lander, ‘Vikram’, virtually from South Africa where he was attending the 15th BRICS Summit, met the scientists behind the country’s maiden lunar landing project at the ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru.

ISRO Chairman S Somanath personally received PM Modi, who patted his back and hugged him for the successful culmination of the daunting lunar landing mission. He also posed for a group photo with the team of scientists behind the project. S Somanath briefed PM Modi on the ISRO’s 40-day journey to the lunar South Pole and the efforts that went into the project.