Lok Sabha hails India's moon, space missions

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the success of Chandrayaan-3 would have a big impact on people, especially in instilling scientific temper and ambition in children. During his speech in the Lok Sabha on the successful Moon mission, Singh also responded to a question from the Opposition on the issue of the border stand-off with China and said he was ready to discuss it.

While hailing the contributions of ISRO scientists and the scientific ecosystem for the success of the Chandrayaan-2 and the ongoing mission to the Sun, Singh said: "More importantly, space missions to the Moon or Sun will help to awaken the scientific temperament in a child living in a remote village." He said Indian scientific accomplishments and the national cultural heritage are interlinked and compatible.

When Singh referred to the role of science in protecting the nation's frontier, Congress' Adhir Chowdhury referred to the border standoff with China and asked if he would ever be ready to discuss the matter in the House. Singh responded: "With full courage. I am ready for a discussion with confidence."


Congress' Shashi Tharoor noted that the successful ISRO team comprised mostly the products of government engineering colleges. Noting that 20% of ISRO team comprised women, he stressed that they made it "without any reservation". He also paid glowing tributes to India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's contributions in building science institutions and hailed the role of the late scientist Vikram Sarabhai in building ISRO.