Hyderabad: So impressively precise was the launch of PSLV C23 and the placing of its five-satellite payload in preordained orbits that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inspired to speak in the language of international science — English. Mr Modi, in an extempore speech, said the right things in the nicest manner imaginable.
A self-confessed space buff, the PM spoke of India’s technology which has progressed so much as to make possible a hugely successful international programme in which 40 satellites have been put in space for 19 client countries.
The PM’s humorous aside on how India’s Mars mission costs less than the production of the Hollywood space film Gravity also carried the serious message that India’s space programme has cracked the science of the launch so thoroughly that for once the commerce in a highly sophisticated branch of science and engineering is flowing the other way — into India, bringing foreign exchange and prestige.
The PM’s talk on the wonders of space inspiring youth and India’s conquest of the speed and skill needed in a complex area of modern technology was highly motivational. He even took an Obama line in declaring “We can.”
The Mars Orbiter is only a few months from reaching its orbit around the red planet. As Nasa points out, the technology envelope needs to be pushed or else humanity will not be able to fly beyond the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit. India cannot be far from mastering the technology for manned space missions.
