FOX80
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- Aug 27, 2013
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- 399
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SOURCE: TNN’
“The planet Mars – crimson and bright, filling our telescopes with vague intimations of almost-familiar landforms – has long formed a celestial tabula rasa on which we have inscribed our planeto-logical theories, utopian fantasies, and fears of alien invasion or ecological ruin.” These words of David Grinspoon, an American astrobiologist, ring true even today.
This neighbor of Mother Earth has long been the subject of astronomical study. Till date, there have been plenty of missions by different countries to come a step closer to understanding the red planet, its morphology, mineralogy and atmosphere. And now, India is one of them. True, this is just the beginning. I also agree that the Mars Orbitter Mission has a long way to go before it takes India’s name into the elite few that have actually successfully launched missions to our neighboring planet. But the attempt at something so wonderful in itself is commendable.
And naturally something this big makes big news. That it did. But what surprised me was the seeming lack of enthusiasm of the Indian diaspora in this regard. This generation which updates its friends of every little event in their lives through social networking, had surprisingly little to say about Isro’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM.)
The Isro website shines with the banner “Indian Space Research Organisation Space Technology in the service of human kind.” But I thought I would not even need to go so far as to check this government site. I had hoped I would get all the information I need from proud sons and daughters of the country posting about it on social networking sites like Facebook. Some did too, but I was rather disappointed that there were so very few. Honestly, I got far more ‘requests to beat their high online gaming scores’ from my Indian friends than I did updates about the Mars Orbiter Mission.
I do hope that everyone realizes the magnitude of Isro’s achievement even in this first step of a long ladder to ultimate success in this mission. When I mentioned earlier that very few countries succeeded in such missions, I find it equally important to mention that not all countries tried. Save the big celebrations for the ultimate success but don’t overlook the achievements on the way there.
“Mangal” is a word in Hindi and Sanskrit and one of its meanings is auspicious. Also, it is the name denoting the planet Mars. And “Mangalyaan” then is a very appropriate name to informally denote Isro’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
Here’s hoping that the “Mangalyaan” is successful in its “Mangal mission” and here’s hoping that my brothers and sisters of Indian-origin share my sentiments.
“The planet Mars – crimson and bright, filling our telescopes with vague intimations of almost-familiar landforms – has long formed a celestial tabula rasa on which we have inscribed our planeto-logical theories, utopian fantasies, and fears of alien invasion or ecological ruin.” These words of David Grinspoon, an American astrobiologist, ring true even today.
This neighbor of Mother Earth has long been the subject of astronomical study. Till date, there have been plenty of missions by different countries to come a step closer to understanding the red planet, its morphology, mineralogy and atmosphere. And now, India is one of them. True, this is just the beginning. I also agree that the Mars Orbitter Mission has a long way to go before it takes India’s name into the elite few that have actually successfully launched missions to our neighboring planet. But the attempt at something so wonderful in itself is commendable.
And naturally something this big makes big news. That it did. But what surprised me was the seeming lack of enthusiasm of the Indian diaspora in this regard. This generation which updates its friends of every little event in their lives through social networking, had surprisingly little to say about Isro’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM.)
The Isro website shines with the banner “Indian Space Research Organisation Space Technology in the service of human kind.” But I thought I would not even need to go so far as to check this government site. I had hoped I would get all the information I need from proud sons and daughters of the country posting about it on social networking sites like Facebook. Some did too, but I was rather disappointed that there were so very few. Honestly, I got far more ‘requests to beat their high online gaming scores’ from my Indian friends than I did updates about the Mars Orbiter Mission.
I do hope that everyone realizes the magnitude of Isro’s achievement even in this first step of a long ladder to ultimate success in this mission. When I mentioned earlier that very few countries succeeded in such missions, I find it equally important to mention that not all countries tried. Save the big celebrations for the ultimate success but don’t overlook the achievements on the way there.
“Mangal” is a word in Hindi and Sanskrit and one of its meanings is auspicious. Also, it is the name denoting the planet Mars. And “Mangalyaan” then is a very appropriate name to informally denote Isro’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
Here’s hoping that the “Mangalyaan” is successful in its “Mangal mission” and here’s hoping that my brothers and sisters of Indian-origin share my sentiments.
