New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday congratulated the team of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after India’s ‘Bahubali’ rocket successfully put the moon spacecraft – Chandrayaan-3- into orbit on Friday afternoon in a copybook style.
The country’s heavy rocket slung the 3.8 tonne Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft into its intended Earth orbit.
The rocket is nicknamed as ‘Bahubali’ as like the hero in the super-hit film, lifts a heavy Lingam, the rocket carried the 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft.
Kharge, taking to Twitter, said: “Our collective happiness is Over the Moon. Thanks to the tremendous ingenuity, dedication, skill and hard work of our scientists, engineers and everyone involved in the successful launch of Chandrayaan3 Mission. We are extremely proud of each one of you for this remarkable achievement. On behalf of the Congress party, we express our sincere gratitude to the extraordinary team at ISRO.
“India’s lunar missions began with Chandrayaan-1 in 2008, which confirmed the presence of water molecules on the moon. This was a historic feat by our country. Chandrayaan-2 also detected the presence of chromium, manganese and sodium for the first time through remote sensing. The perseverance of our scientists did not go in vain. Today, Chandrayaan-3 is a testimony to the vision, foresight, determination and accomplishment of all our previous Prime Ministers including Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, Rajiv Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh,” he added.
“It is our sincere tribute to Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan and countless visionary scientists who devoted their lives to establish and inculcate scientific temper for human and social development for our people,” Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said highlighting the role of former prime ministers and scientists, said.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi also dubbed the launch of Chandrayaan 3 as a truly incredible feat saying the success of this mission will make us only the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon.
“Today, more than a billion of us look to the sky, beaming with pride. Chandrayaan 3 is the fruit of decades of labour by the scientific community since the launch of India’s space programme in 1962, followed by the creation of ISRO in 1969. The success of this mission will make us only the fourth nation to land a spacecraft on the surface of the moon. A truly incredible feat!Congratulations to the entire team at ISRO,” Rahul Gandhi said.
His sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hailed the team of the ISRO, and said that it is a proud moment for the entire country.
In a tweet in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi said: “Congratulations and best wishes to all the scientists and personnel of ISRO on the launch of Chandrayaan 3. It is a proud moment for the entire country. After independence, the strong foundation of space programme in India was laid under the supervision of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Vikram Sarabhai. Tribute to all the scientists and personnel involved in the journey from the establishment of Indian Space Program, ISRO, Aryabhata, Chandrayaan 1 to Chandrayaan 3 flight.”
Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh also hailed the country’s milestone in the space programme but highlighted the death of the eighth Cheetah brought from Africa in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno national park.
In a tweet, he said: “Today should have been a day of unadulterated joy with the launch of Chandrayaan-3. Sadly, the news has just come in that the 8th cheetah has died at Kuno. The expert group would surely be examining what is going wrong repeatedly. All that can be hoped for is that conservation science prevails over political prestige,” he said, highlighting the death of the eighth Cheetah in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno national park.
–IANS