PM Modi declares that 23 August will be celebrated as ‘National Space Day’.
BENGALURU
Conforming to the naming tradition, Chandrayaan-3’s landing point on the moon will be named “Shiv Shakti Point,” a convergence of welfare and strength, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday.
PM Modi flew down to Bengaluru on Saturday morning from Greece’s capital Athens to interact with ISRO scientists on the successful lunar mission and announced the decision to name the spot where the lander “Vikram” touched down as “Shiv Shakti Point”.
Terming the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission as an “extraordinary moment” in the history of India’s space programme, PM Modi, who turned emotional, said the place where the Chandrayaan-2 lander crash-landed on the moon’s surface in 2019 would be known as “Tiranga Point”.
“There is a scientific tradition of naming the location of touchdown. India has decided to name the lunar region where our Chandrayaan-3 landed. The place Vikram lander descended will be known as Shiv Shakti Point.”
“In Shiv, there is resolution for the welfare of humanity and Shakti gives us strength to fulfil those resolutions. This Shiv Shakti Point of the moon also gives a sense of connection with the Himalayas to Kanyakumari,” the PM added.
He said the new generation should come forward to prove scientifically the astronomical formulae in Indian scriptures and to study them anew. “It is also important for our heritage and for science. In a way, this is a double responsibility for the students of schools, colleges and universities today. The treasure of scientific knowledge that India has, has been buried, hidden during the long period of slavery. In this ‘Azadi ka Amrit Kaal’, we have to explore this treasure too, do research on it and also tell the world about it”, he said.
“I was impatient and eager to visit and salute you for your diligence, dedication, courage, devotion and passion,” the PM said in his address to team ISRO, his voice choking. “India is on the moon! We have our national pride placed on the moon.”
Hailing the role of women scientists in the success of Chandrayaan-3, he said, “The country’s Nari Shakti played a big role in it.”
The Prime Minister stated that the point where Chandrayaan-2 left its imprints will now be called “Tiranga”. This point, he said, will serve as an inspiration for every effort that India makes and remind us that failure is not the end. “Success is a guarantee where there is strong will power.”
Declaring 23 August as the “National Space Day”, PM Modi said it will “celebrate the spirit of science, technology and innovation, and inspire us for an eternity”. A large number of people, many of them waving the National Flag, accorded a grand welcome to the PM outside the HAL airport, where he landed straight from Greece, and at Jalahalli Cross, close to ISTRAC. He also held a road-show for a distance as people who lined up on either side of the roads cheered boisterously.
At ISTRAC, ISRO Chairman S. Somanath briefed the PM about the Chandrayaan-3 mission and its progress. In his address, PM Modi said in this period of 21st century, the country which takes the lead in science and technology, will move ahead. “Today, the name of Chandrayaan is resonating among the children of India. Every child is seeing his or her future in the scientists.”
The Prime Minister requested ISRO to organise national hackathons on “Space Technology in Governance” in collaboration with various departments of the central and state governments. “I am confident that this national hackathon will make our governance more effective and provide modern solutions to the countrymen,” he said.
The PM also urged students across the country to take part in a huge quiz competition on Chandrayaan mission organised by Government of India portal MyGov from 1 September.
The soft landing of Vikram lander on the lunar surface was not an ordinary achievement, Modi said, adding the feat was a “roaring announcement” of India’s scientific accomplishment in the infinite universe. “India is on the moon,” he said, adding, “we have our national pride played on the moon.”
“We reached where no one else had reached. We did what no one else had ever done. This is today’s India, a fearless India, India with fighting spirit,” the Prime Minister said. “This is an India, which thinks new and thinks in novel ways, which goes to the dark zones and spreads the rays of light. India of the 21st century has the capacity to solve major problems of the world,” PM Modi said addressing the space scientists.
“Today, from trade to technology, India is being counted among the countries standing in the first row. In the journey from ‘third row’ to ‘first row’, institutions like our ISRO have played a huge role.”
Hailing the space agency, the Prime Minister said it has taken “Make in India” to the moon.
On Wednesday evening as the lander module of Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully touched down on the lunar surface, PM Modi had joined the ISRO team at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISTRAC virtually from Johannesburg, where he was attending the 15th BRICS summit. He had also flown down to Bengaluru on the night of 6 September 2019 to watch the planned touchdown of Chandrayaan-2 mission’s “Vikram” lander.
But in the early hours of 7 September, barely minutes before it was slated to land, ISRO lost contact with the craft, just 2.1 km above the lunar surface.