Astronomy lovers at Nehru Planetarium in the Capital rejoiced in unison as soon as the Mars orbiter took off from Sriharikota on Tuesday.
They were watching live telecast of the mission at the Planetarium. Most inspired by the mission were youngsters across the country who claimed that Indians have now finally made its mark and proved to the world that they are second to none.
Amid the cacophony, Shobhit, an alumnus of BITS Pilani, said the launch has finally put to rest all speculation that India was not capable of becoming a part of the coveted space league.
“Indian scientists have proved that we are second to none. Slowly and gradually we will get a piece of the big picture. It is hard to predict what data is finally obtained from this mission. NASA has already done the same. But there is optimism that we may procure data which is crucial to our understanding about Mars and proving that it was nurturing to a habitable zone.”
A film buff, Shobhit recalled that Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger’s science fiction film “Total Recall” succeeded in arousing curiosity about the red planet worldwide. “I am confident that Mars is capable of sustaining life”.
Anna, a final year student of Jesus and Mary College, said the Mars mission has proved that India is not behind other developed nations like the United States which have launched robotic missions on Mars.
“We have demonstrated that we have the technological know-how to launch such scientifically advanced missions. Hats off to the team at the Indian Space Research Organisation for working round the clock to ensure that Mars mission was successfully launched.”
Sahil Goel from IIT-Kharagpur said the mission should have been launched by ISRO earlier. “We should have been the trendsetter.”
Meanwhile, Delhi Public School Indirapuram Class IV student Falak Bhatnagar said the mission could tell whether human beings could settle down in the Red Planet in the near future. “I read the encyclopaedia to keep myself updated about the latest activities revolving around Mars. With this launch, my curiosity about Mars has increased and I would like to study astronomy in detail.”
