New Delhi [India] : Stating that India has been making great strides in the field of space exploration, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said that there is no limit to what an inspired and dreaming Indian population can achieve.
Pesquet was on his first visit to India, where he met with Indian Space Research Organisation S Somanath. He also interacted with the leaders of the space community, the young entrepreneurs, and the students.
“French astronaut @Thom_astro @esa was all praise for India as he concludes his first visit to the country,” the French Embassy in India posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Pesquet also heaped praise on India’s Moon and Mars space missions, adding that the Gaganyan project will inspire the entire nation and ultimately change the world.
Taking to X, Pesquet stated, “My first time in India, and I can see how this won’t be the last! From Mars to the surface of the moon, and soon humans in orbit, India has been making great strides in space exploration, and the world is noticing. It’s been very energizing to speak to the leaders of the space community, the young entrepreneurs, the students and the pupils and realize how they dream and make things happen every day.”
“With the Gaganyaan project, India is strongly engaging in human spaceflight with their own capsule and rocket, and it’s easy to see here how this will inspire the entire nation, and ultimately change the world: there’s no limit to what an inspired and dreaming Indian population can do,” he added.
Gaganyaan project envisages a demonstration of human spaceflight capability by launching a crew of 3 members to an orbit of 400 km for a 3-day mission and bringing them back safely to earth, by landing in Indian sea waters. This program will make India the fourth nation to launch a manned spaceflight mission after the US, Russia, and China.
The Gaganyaan mission entails the safe transportation of astronauts to space and back. A crucial component of this mission is the deployment of drogue parachutes, which play a pivotal role in stabilizing the crew module and reducing its velocity to a safe level during re-entry.
On August 23, India took a giant leap as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the Moon’s South Pole, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat and bringing to an end the disappointment over the crash landing of the Chandrayaan-2, four years ago.
While, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has accomplished the launch of Aditya-L1, its inaugural Solar Mission. Aditya-L1 is the first space-based observatory class Indian solar mission to study the Sun from a substantial distance of 1.5 million kilometres. It will take approximately 125 days to reach the L1 point.
Earlier on September 24, 2014, India’s Mars Orbiter Spacecraft successfully entered into an elliptical orbit around planet Mars, making India the first nation to succeed in the Mars mission in the very first attempt.
