Former NASA official hails Chandrayaan 3 success as India innovation, human capital
Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
WASHINGTON DC, 25th Aug. Former NASA Official Mike Gold on Thursday has said Chandrayaan-3’s success is a triumph of Indian innovation, human capital and the capabilities that will take India even further.
Mr. Gold said “Congratulations to ISRO and all of the people of India. This is a victory not only for India but for the entire world as we go into this new era of lunar development and India is leading the way,” on Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the Moon.
Chief Growth Officer of Redwire Space said “It is amazing to have the success that Chandrayaan-3 has had given the relatively little amount of resources that India has used, it is just a triumph of Indian innovation, human capital and the capabilities that will take India even further.”
Red-wire Corporation is an American aerospace manufacturer and space infrastructure technology company.
Gold said the mission “is just the first step on the amazing journey of discovery that India is on having signed the Artemis Accords. This is just the beginning of India’s journey.”
He said that he is excited about India’s interface development with commercial space companies such as Redwire.
“We are building parts of the lunar gateway, developing systems on the moon to develop landing pads,” he said.
“This is just the beginning of a new era led by India. Fantastic to see the flag,” Gold added.
Mike Gold said: “This (Chandrayaan-3) mission will gather invaluable data to help drive our understanding of the Moon, our ability to utilize resources and ultimately where we’re going to establish settlements on the Moon. Whether the mission succeeds in landing or not, the mission itself, in my opinion, is an overall success…”
Mr. Gold said the mission will “move the collaboration forward to the Moon. Right now, a lot of our collaboration with NASA and ISRO is focused on Earth, which is terrific, such as projects such as NISAR, where with India, we’re going to have radar systems that will be able to study the Earth. And create a lot of vital data to tackle climate change and issues related to our change in climate, which is going to be so important for India, for the US and for the entire world.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris through Ambassador Eric Garcetti, congratulated India for the historic touchdown of Chandrayaan-3 on the southern polar region of the moon, called it an ‘incredible feat’.
“Congratulations to India for the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the southern polar region of the moon,” Kamala Harris wrote on X on Thursday as India became the fourth country to achieve the feat after the US, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union.
“It’s an incredible feat for all the scientists and engineers involved. We are proud to partner with you on this mission and space exploration more broadly,” Harris said.
India signed the three-year-old Artemis Accords, a US-led international partnership on planetary exploration and research.
The Artemis Accords is closely linked to NASA’s Artemis Program, aims to return astronauts to the moon’s surface, build a space camp there, and carry out in depth space exploration.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson also congratulated ISRO wrote on X: “Congratulations @isro on your successful Chandrayaan-3 lunar South Pole landing! And congratulations to #India on being the 4th country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on the Moon. We’re glad to be your partner on this mission!”
Congressman Ro Khanna was in India this month to celebrate Independence Day, called it a “big moment” for the country.
“A big moment for India. Congratulations… I saw incredible ingenuity and dynamism across India in the delegation we recently led,” Khanna said.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote on X “Congratulations to ISRO and the people of India for the Chandrayaan-3’s historic landing on the South Pole of the Moon. We look forward to deepening our partnership with India on space exploration in the years ahead.”
US Ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, on X said he sees “exciting opportunities” ahead for the US and India.
“That’s how you stick a landing! Congratulations to India, @ISRO and the entire team on the successful landing of #Chandrayaan3! I can see exciting opportunities ahead for #USIndiaSpace collaboration,” Garcetti said.
Congressman Brad Sherman said “India is the first country to ever land a craft on this part of the lunar surface,”
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said the Aditya-L1 satellite for the Sun mission will be launched during the first week of September.
According to him, the coronagraphy satellite will take about 120 days to travel about 15 lakh km to reach its destination to study the solar atmosphere.
ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 landed successfully after a 40-day journey started from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
Chandryaan-3 on Wednesday successfully performed a soft landing on the moon.
ISRO tweeted: “Chandrayaan-3 Mission: ‘India, I reached my destination and you too!’ Chandrayaan-3 has successfully soft-landed on the moon! Congratulations, India!”
The Vikram lander carrying the Pragyaan rover in its belly touched down on the lunar surface, it marked a giant leap in India’s spacefaring journey providing a well-deserved finale to ISRO’s long years of toil.
India is now the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface, it has earned a place in record books as the first to touchdown on the south side of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Special screenings of the soft landing were organized across the country, including schools science centres, and public institutions.
ISRO made the live action available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV.
The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.
