September 24, 2014 goes down in our nation’s history as a day of great achievement, a historical day on which Indian scientists succeeded in bringing to grand finale the prestigious Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Mangalyaan. The Prime Minister sitting among the renowned scientists of the country watched the Mangalyaan enter the orbit of the Red Planet Mars. The elated Prime Minister congratulated the scientists and the nation for this singular achievement which was made possible through one maiden attempt. Now India joins the group of three other nations of the world that have such an achievement to their credit. But India has the right to be exuberant because so far she is the only country that has achieved the success in its very first attempt.
The Prime Minister paid glowing tributes to the scientists at ISRO who worked through a myriad of disciplines and circuits to determine the right course for the spacecraft to the orbit of the Mars. The elated Prime Minister patted the back of K. Radhakrishan, the Chairman of the ISRO. In a brilliant exposition made before the entire posse of scientists at ISRO, the Prime Minister recalled the ancient sages and saints of India who had conceptualized the shuniya or nothingness — the space— and also of the grahas meaning heavenly bodies and their rotation or movement. With the success of MOM, it should not be though that the task set by our scientists for themselves has come to on end. The universe is unknown and unlimited. As such, our urge for extending the boundaries of knowledge further should never slow down.
The space remains the greatest mystery to the man. Philosophers have speculated about many things related to space and human imagination has never stopped attributing qualities and criteria to the spatial bodies on the basis of which the science of astrology developed. From very early times of human knowledge, man has tried to penetrate the mystery of space and the cosmos and find out what lies beyond our ken. However, with tremendous advancement in the realms of science and technology in present century, human ingenuity thought of doing physical research into the layers of the unknown. There were the pioneers in the field in western countries and we salute them for their daring and inquisitive spirit that opened the window upon the cosmos. No doubt our scientists took the cue from their predecessors but as we know the boundaries of scientific inquiry are not final or impenetrable. Our scientists indigenously worked out the plan of sending the Mangalyaan to the orbit of the Mars. They took only 18 months to work on the mission and also at a much reduced cost than what other three western countries invested. Imagine the distance viz. 65 crore miles, which the orbiter had to travel to reach its destination, and the precision that was needed to guide it.
The country is honoured and our scientists have proved that they are capable of making extraordinary achievements. Given the right kind of incentives and facilities, they can win further laurels for the nation. This is a nation of peace and humanism. We do not make researches to destroy the globe and the communities that live on it. We feel pride in serving the humankind in whatever way possible. This has been the basics of our philosophy. Researches in these branches will go on and India will be among the group of researchers. This is to add to the realm of human knowledge and to see if through space research something more useful and more beneficial to the mankind can be discovered.
No odds, howsoever formidable, can dampen our spirit of enquiry and investigation. Imagine the vast segment of our scientists, technocrats and skilled hands that we have at our disposal. This is the strength of the country and they can make wonders.
The achievement of guiding the spacecraft to its destination was the result of the collective effort of all in positions of great responsibility. The credit goes to the Indian nation and the nation rightly is proud of what the scientists have given it in return. The highly useful lesson that we should draw from this brilliant success is that as a nation we can make incredible achievements and we are capable of doing that. Quoting great poet Rabindranth Tagore, the Prime Minister said that he dreams about the greatness of the country and the role she will be called upon to play in bringing emancipation to the entire mankind. It was the right occasion for the nation, for young and old Indians, to reiterate their conviction in the ability and competence of our people and our intellectuals. Let us salute our motherland and our leading scientists and intellectuals who have won the hearts of the people by their singular achievements.
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