Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MD)
With DHNS Inputs
Mangaluru, Feb 19: Dedicating the success of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) to the thousands of ISRO scientists, former chairman of ISRO Dr K Radhakrishnan said that to enkindle scientific temperament in children, they should be taught science in such a way that they take it up as an activity.
He was addressing the 92nd Founder’s Day celebration of Karnataka Bank at its auditorium on Wednesday February 18.
"A young scientist aged 26 told the Prime Minister that he was the first to send a message to ISRO soon after the success of MOM. Such is the atmosphere in ISRO for young minds," Dr Radhakrishnan said, adding, "The Mangalyaan mission stirred a lot of interest among youngsters. Over 3 lac youngsters appreciated our work through messages on social media.
"The school children who were present during the launch of the MOM rocket gave hopes that the future of science in our country is in good hands," he added.
Speaking on the two lessons followed in ISRO he said, "The first lesson is to accept failure, because failure is a common phenomenon in space mission. We do not point fingers at any person for failure, rather we analyze the issue behind the failure. The second lesson we follow is to learn from the success and analyze what made it a failure. This helps us in overcoming failures."
Recalling the days when MOM was first proposed, he said, "Some said it would be a national shame rather than fame. They said it was also the responsibility of ISRO to take care of tax payers’ money. But we took the criticism in a positive way and now the whole world is looking at us in a different manner. We made it possible in the first attempt while even developed countries could not do it in several attempts."
Starting from Aryabhata way back in 1975, India has carried out 119 space missions. In the first phase of 25 years, there have been 40 missions. In the second phase of 10 years, there have been 42 missions. In the last 5 years, there were 37 missions including Chandrayan - 1 and during last six months, six missions including Mission on Mars (MOM) have been carried out. India is now looking forward for Chandrayan -2 and Aditya missions, he said.
25 Indian satellites working today, have been responsible for making the lives of people different than from 1980’s. Effective disaster management communication and navigation system has been possible with these satellites.
Three GPS navigation satellites have been successfully launched and one more will be launched by next March. The nation is on its way in attaining reliable space satellites, he said.
Dr Radhakrishnan said that Indian space programmes have been pan-Indian endeavours. ISRO is looking for a greater role of the nation in producing PSLV communication satellite of its own, he added.
The chairman of Karnataka Bank, Ananthakrishna in his address, calling Dr Radhakrishnan the 'Jewel of India' gave a call to the employees of the Bank to inculcate the lessons of ISRO and strive to take Karnataka Bank to greater heights.
MD and CEO of the Bank Jayaram Bhat welcomed the gathering and chief general manager Mahabaleshwara Bhat rendered vote of thanks while Jennifer compered the programme.