'Nothing Wrong...': ISRO Chief Over Naming Of Chandrayaan-3 Landing Site 'Shivashakti'

Days after India created history with the soft landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon’s south pole, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somanath on Sunday offered prayers at the Pournamikavu-Bhadrakali Temple in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.

The ISRO Chief reached Thiruvananthapuram after the successful launch of the Lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 on the surface of the moon on August 23.

Addressing the media after paying his obeisance at the temple, the eminent scientist said that science and belief are two different entities and that there is no need to mix the two.

Asked About his visit to the temple, Somanath said, “I am an explorer. I explore the Moon. I explore the inner space. So it’s a part of the journey of my life to explore both science and spirituality. I visit many temples and I read many scriptures. I try to find the meaning of our existence and our journey in this cosmos. It’s part of the culture that we are all built to explore and find out the inner self as well as the outer self. So for the outer, I do science, for the inner I come to temples,” he said.

He also asserted that there was no controversy regarding the naming of the Chandrayaan 2 landing site on the moon as ‘ShivSakthi’ and added that the nation has the right to name the place.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi narrated the meaning of it (ShivShakti) in a manner that suits all of us. I think there is nothing wrong with that. And also he gave the next name to Tiranga and both are Indian-sounding names. See, we must have a significance of doing what we are doing. And he has a prerogative of naming it being the Prime Minister of the country,” he said.

The ISRO Chairman said that India was the first country to land in the south pole of the moon and added that the surface of the moon in the south pole was very tricky with mounts and valleys and even a minor calculation error would lead to the lander failing in the mission.

He said that the ISRO had preferred the South pole of the moon for expeditions as the surface was rich with minerals which would be expedited by the scientists once the rover gives proper feedback from the lunar surface.

When asked about the current status of the mission, he said, “Everything is working very well. Chandrayaan3, the lander, the rover is very healthy and all the five instruments on board have been switched on. And it’s giving beautiful data now. So we are hoping that in the days to come next another ten more days remaining before September 3, we should be able to complete all the experiments with its full capability of various modes. There are different modes for which it has to be tested… So we have the best picture ever of the Moon.”

The ISRO Cgief also talked about the space agency’s new Sun expedition mission and said it is already ready and the launch date would be announced soon. The senior scientist said that several tests are being carried out on the mission and that the date would be announced soon if all goes well, otherwise, it would be postponed.

Somanath said that the photographs that the rover was taking from the moon’s surface would take time to reach the ISRO stations and added that the support of ground stations of other countries like the US, the UK, and Australia is being sought by the ISRO in this.

He also said that as the surface of the moon does not have an atmosphere, the shadows are all dark and that this was making it difficult to get clearer photographs.

(With ANI and IANS Inputs)