CM Siddaramaiah felicitates Isro chief Somanath on Chandrayaan-3’s success

BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday visited the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) at Peenya and felicitated the space agency chief S Somanath after the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon’s lunar south pole.

The Chief Minister also extended his wishes to all the scientists and staff who contributed to the success of the mission while visiting the ISTRAC centre at Peenya. The CM was accompanied by his cabinet colleague Boseraju and state Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma.

Talking to the reporters after the visit, CM Siddaramaiah said, “I am very happy because our country has achieved this and it’s a historical achievement. Landing on the Moon is not a small thing, it’s a very big achievement. They have been working for many years and nearly 500 hundred scientists were working on it.”

He further said that the ISRO scientists including chairman Somanath will be felicitated at Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru. “The Isro chief and the other scientists will be felicitated by the government at the banquet hall of Vidhana Soudha. This is a proud moment for all of us. I too was watching the Vikram module landing on the Moon and I was very happy and proud of the achievement,” the CM said. “I congratulate Somanath and his entire team and it’s a special and historical moment”, he added.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar too said that the state feels proud to honour those who have contributed to the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

“I am very proud to see the great moment which has created history in Indian science. India has shown that it is the knowledge capital of the world. The entire team has worked for this success story…We are very proud of this great moment. We all shared the joy. The next generation will definitely take it forward”, Shivakumar said.

He further said that on behalf of Karnataka, he met ISRO chief Somanath and wished him and his team all the best.

After a 40-day journey into space, the Chandrayaan-3 lander, ‘Vikram’, touched down on the uncharted lunar south pole of the Moon on Wednesday evening, making India the first country to do so. India also became only the fourth nation after the US, Russia and China to successfully conduct a lunar landing mission.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft put down the Vikram lander on the lunar surface, tilting to a horizontal position ahead of landing. The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14. (With Agency inputs)