By R. Anil Kumar
Bangalore, December 1. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Senator Bill Nelson shared his delight at engaging with students at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and meeting Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to venture into space.
Nelson, who is on a visit to India, said that the story of Rakesh Sharma lit up the room.
Sharing on his social media X, NASA Administrator stated, “It was a great honour to speak with students in Bengaluru with Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to fly to space.
His story lit up the room! To the Artemis Generation in India and beyond: Work hard, dream big, and reach for the stars. The universe is the limit!”
Rakesh Sharma made history by becoming the first Indian national to traverse outer space on April 2, 1984, aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
During his 7-day, 21-hour, and 40-minute stint in space, Sharma contributed substantially to fields like bio-medicine and remote sensing. His endeavours included conducting diverse scientific studies and experiments, involving remote sensing and bio-medicine.
Sharma conducted several scientific studies and experiments, his work including remote sensing and bio- medicine.
The crew even held a conference with officials from space.
He said that the most beautiful moments in space were sunrise and sunset.
Meanwhile, Nelson touched down in India on 28 November, expressing his enthusiasm for a week of meetings and events aimed at strengthening the partnership between NASA and ISRO.
He emphasised that India is a leader in space and is looking forward to a productive visit.
Nelson will also meet with space officials to deepen bilateral cooperation across a broad range of innovation and research-related areas, especially in human exploration and Earth science, the American space agency NASA said in a release.
Nelson’s visit to India will fulfil a commitment as part of the US and India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology initiated by President Joe Biden.
The NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson visited Antariksh Bhavan at Bengaluru and had a meeting with Chairman, ISRO, Secretary, Department of Space (DOS) S. Somanath, Senior members from ISRO,DOS, NASA and US Consulate, Chennai participated in the meeting.
Chairman, ISRO welcomed the visitors and admired the long standing corporation between NASA-ISRO in space endeavours, starting from the launch of first sounding rocket from India, discovery of hydroxyl molecules on the Moon by the payloads on board Chandrayaan-1 and upcoming joint mission of NISAR.
He briefed the efforts taken by Government of India, through space sector reforms, to enable participation of Indian private entities in national space activities.
Senator Bill Nelson congratulated ISRO and India for becoming the first to reach near south pole of the Moon.
He remarked that NASA has enjoyed the partnership for several years and is looking forward for the data from NISAR and its utility for the benefit of humankind.
Potential opportunities for continued corporation beyond NISAR in the programmes like the Gaganyaan, enhanced interactions among scientific academic and industrial community were discussed.
Later, both the leaders along with Wg Cdr (Rtrd.) Rakesh Sharma (the first Indian Cosmonaut) interacted with ISRO, DOS Community.
Earlier, NASA Administrator visited ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), along with Chairman, ISRO, Secretary, DOS and Director URSC and had a look at the NISAR satellite, which is undergoing final integration and testing activities, with participation of ISRO and NASA,JPL Engineers.
NASA Administrator has also interacted with NASA, JPL Engineers, who are working at URSC for NISAR activities.
