BENGALURU:
Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Saturday tweeted its thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who visited the space agency’s command centre in Bengaluru earlier in the morning.
PM Modi congratulated ISRO scientists who were involved in the Chandrayaan-3 project that culminated in the historic lunar landing mission of India. On Wednesday, the country became the first to place a lander on the uncharted south pole of the Moon.
“Interacting with our @isro scientists in Bengaluru. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is an extraordinary moment in the history of India’s space programme”, PM Modi tweeted. In response, Isro posted on its social media platform X, formerly Tiwtter, “Dhanyavaad, Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri @narendramodiji”.
Dhanyavaad, Honorable Prime Minister of India Shri @narendramodi ji. https://t.co/r66p5bPFN0
— ISRO (@isro) August 26, 2023
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 today.
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.
During his address, PM Modi turned emotional while recalling the final 15 challenging minutes of the Chandrayaan-3. The PM also announced that August 23 will be celebrated as National Space Day to mark Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the Moon.
PM Modi said that the touchdown spot of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface would be known as the ‘Shivshakti’ point while the Chandrayaan-2 Lunar landing point will be called the ‘Tiranga’ point. The Prime Minister also posed for a group photo with the team of scientists behind the project.
Somanath briefed the PM Modi on the Isro’s 40-day journey to the lunar south pole and the efforts that went into the project. Prior to meeting the scientists, PM raised the slogan ‘Jai Vigyan, Jai Anusandhan’ and greeted people lining the streets outside HAL airport after his arrival in Bengaluru.
After a 40-day journey into space, the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the uncharted lunar south pole on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to do so.
As India achieved a successful lunar landing, becoming only the fourth country to reach the milestone after the US, Russia and China, congratulations and good wishes poured in from world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka ‘Prachanda’, among others. (ANI)
