The Mars Orbiter Mission may have sparked a debate on 'space race' between India and China, but former ISRO boss G Madhavan Nair says Beijing has already surged forward and is on course to have an upper hand in the field globally.
Top space scientist G Madhavan Nair said it may take ten years for the country to put in place such an operational rocket.
'ISRO facilities are very expensive and any damage caused by these start-ups can create havoc to our space programme.'
Experts said India has possessed the anti-missile technology for several years but needed the political go-ahead to actually test it in live conditions.
G Madhavan Nair also propounded the theory that some shlokas in the Vedas mentioned about the presence of water on the moon
The nine-second de-orbiting or retro-orbiting manoeuvre was executed at 3.42 am using the onboard propulsion system.
It is important to approach the belief of people in ancient India's achievements with a sense of proportion, balance and empathy, argues B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'Others will think twice before attacking our space assets.'
Indian Space Research Organisation's plan to soft land Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on the Lunar surface did not go as per script in the early hours of Saturday, with the lander losing communication with ground stations during its final descent.
ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan spoke with rediff.com briefly before the launch of India's mission to Mars
'It is a blessing in disguise that they could find the glitch before the launch.' 'If this was not found, the entire mission would have been lost.'
'If a small object of less than 100 gm can make a deep crater and also release this kind of energy, it could only be a meteorite.'
While the Mars mission got wide praise, there were voices which questioned the need for spending Rs 450-500 crore on it when the country is facing hunger and poverty.
An international tribunal has ruled that the Indian government had acted "unfairly" and "inequitably" in annulling a contract between Devas and ISRO's commercial arm Antrix.
India is only the fourth country to acquire such a specialised and modern capability after the United States, Russia and China.
'When the Americans are talking about colonising Mars by 2030, India cannot be lagging behind.'
Hyperbole by our ministers and a few saffronised scientists not only defames Newton and Einstein, but also mocks ancient India's achievements in mathematics, medicine and natural science, says Utkarsh Mishra.
'When you look at it from the point of view of science, Chandrayaan 2 is a big success.'
With the launch of GSLV-MK III, slated for April, it will be able to cater to bigger satellites as well.
'All El Ninos are not associated with the deficient monsoon.'
'A lot of unauthorised encroachments have taken place in our forest area.' 'The landslides are partly because of such encroachments.' 'The other factor is deforestation.' 'Protection of forest resources is not on the agenda of any government.' 'The damage caused by the rain in Kerala is a man-made factor.'
'There could be some aberrations here and there. This has nothing to do with the government or the ruling party. The government machinery is put in action when atrocities take place. They are not sitting silent.' 'Beyond making sensational news, what purpose does returning the awards serve?'
'India has got a unique opportunity to get more and more business from outside as India is cost-effective and reliable.'
In the years to come, India's space assets will play a much bigger role if and when hostilities break out on our borders, says Pallava Bagla.
'Unlike in other states, minorities form a significant number in Kerala. They have money and political power. In such a society, the emergence of a new communal power is not a healthy thing.'
'What we are trying for is to make space travel easier like air travel.' 'We have already established ourselves... the fact that other countries are coming to seek our help shows our technology is mature.'
The Mars mission is overwhelmingly irrelevant to space science and won't advance the frontiers of knowledge. It will divert attention from the real technological challenges facing the Indian space programme, and will further distort our science and technology priorities, says Praful Bidwai.
It has already tasted success with the moon mission and Mangalyaan. Is man in space the next frontier for ISRO?
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