“PM told us Sky is not the limit”: ISRO women scientists after meeting PM Modi

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday landed in Bengaluru to meet the scientists of the Indian Research and Space Organisation (ISRO) behind the successful accomplishment of India’s lunar mission. Several of the women scientists working at ISRO had a special opportunity to interact with the PM.

Reema Ghosh, a senior scientist and a team member of the Pragyan module, spoke to ANI about her experience interacting with PM Modi.

“It was wonderful. PM Modi visited us. He supported us and told us that the Sky is not the limit. Our Prime Minister took so much time to appreciate our efforts and sacrifices”, said Ghosh.

Speaking on future plans of the ISRO, she said, “Definitely, we will come up with something even better. We are very excited as the Aditya-L1 (ISRO’s solar mission) will be launched. We will embrace more challenging missions”.

Prime Minister Modi interacted with the women scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), who were involved in the ‘Chandrayaan-3’ project, commending the key role that they played in the successful culmination of India’s maiden lunar landing mission.

Addressing scientists at ISRO’s Telemetry Tracking and Command Network Mission Control Complex in Bengaluru on Saturday, PM Modi said, “Women scientists played a key role in the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The ‘Shivkshakti’ point (spot on the lunar South Pole where the ‘Vikram’ lander touched down) will inspire future generations to take up science in earnest and use it for the welfare of people. People’s welfare remains our supreme commitment,” PM Modi said to applause from the audience.

Another ISRO’s senior scientist, Nidhi Porwal told ANI, “It is always good when the head of the family comes and appreciates us. It is a pleasure for all of us. We have 20-25% of women’s strength in ISRO. It is really good for women coming up in every field”.

“It was a cherishing moment for all of us. He spoke to all the women scientists. Definitely, there are men also who walked with us to make the mission accomplished”, said Daffini, a senior ISRO scientist while speaking to media.

Another scientist, Reddy Saritha, spoke to media sharing her experience communicating with the Prime Minister.

She said, “We are feeling proud. It was a nice experience for all of us”.

“We are super excited. We felt that our achievements were being recognized. We are super excited to meet PM Modi. Spirit is high…It is good that our PM is recognising and encouraging ‘Nari Shakti’. It is an inspiration for us”, Priyanka Mishra, an ISRO scientist, said while speaking to media.

PL Arthy Sen, a scientist working for the Gaganyan mission, told media that the Chandrayaan mission is the biggest inspiration for the Gaganyan.

Speaking on the Gaganyan mission, Sen said, “Chandrayaan-3 is the biggest inspiration for Gaganyaan, we’re ready…our works are going on for Gaganyaan. Mark 3 is all set…Gaganyaan results can be seen soon…we need to make Mark 3 more powerful and the process is on…almost all the systems are developed…we want everyone’s support for Gaganyaan also”.

According to the ISRO, Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme.

Nithya Bharati, another scientist at ISRO, said, “I am very happy to be a part of this mission and very excited that we have successfully completed this mission”.

Savitri, an ISRO scientist also spoke to ANI about her experience meeting with PM Modi.

“We’re very happy that all the components were delivered and our system performed perfectly and we could achieve the result the entire nation was waiting for…we wish our future missions get similar success…The PM named the landing point ‘Shiv Shakti’ and it is related ‘Shakti’ with ‘Nari Shakti’, it made us very proud…”, Savitri said.

PM Modi, during his address to the scientists, said that the touchdown spot of the Vikram lander on the lunar surface would be known as the ‘Shivshakti’ point while the Chandrayaan-2 Lunar landing point will be called the ‘Tiranga’ point.

The Prime Minister also declared August 23 (the day when Chandrayaan-3 became successful) as the ‘National Space Day’.

India took a giant leap on Wednesday evening 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.

Overall, India became the fourth country – after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface.