Chandrayaan-3: Nothing wrong in naming of lunar landing site as ‘Shiv Shakti’, says Isro chief S Somanath | India NewsWORLD NEWS
On Chandrayaan-3 touchdown point to be called ‘Shiva Shakti’, ISRO Chairman S Somanath said, “PM narrated the meaning of it in a manner that suits all of us.I think there is nothing wrong with that. And also he gave the next name to Tiranga and both are Indian-sounding names. See, we must have a significance of doing what we are doing. And he has a prerogative of naming it being the Prime Minister of the country.”
S Somanath offered prayers at the Pournamikavu-Bhadrakali Temple in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram and said that science and belief are two different entities and that there is no need to mix the two.
“I am an explorer. I explore the Moon. I explore the inner space. So it’s a part of the journey of my life to explore both science and spirituality. So I visit many temples and I read many scriptures. So try to find the meaning of our existence and our journey in this cosmos. So it’s a part of the culture that we are all built to explore, find out the inner self as well as outer self. So for the outer, I do science, for the inner I come to temples,” he added.
The Isro chief said that India was the first country to land in the south pole of the moon and added that the surface of the moon in south pole was very tricky with mounts and valleys and even a minor calculation error would lead to the lander failing in the mission.
He said that the Isro had preferred the South pole of the moon for expeditions as the surface was rich with minerals which would be expedited by the scientists once the rover gives proper feedback from the lunar surface.
The announcement made by PM Modi regarding the naming of the Moon landing sites sparked a verbal battle between the BJP and Congress on Saturday.
The Prime Minister revealed that the Chandrayaan-3 landing area will be known as Shiv Shakti Point, while the location where Chandrayaan-2 encountered issues in 2019 will be called Tiranga Point.
Congress leader Rashid Alvi said the world would laugh at India as “we don’t own the Moon”. In response, BJP’s Gaurav Bhatia said that during the failed Chandrayaan-1 mission which was launched when Congress-led UPA was in government, a point on the Moon was named Jawahar Point, after the first PM.
Describing Congress’s criticism as “anti-Hindu”, he said, “Congress leader mocks at naming of Chandrayaan landing point as Shiv Shakti. The Congress has once again insulted Hindus. Why does Congress hate Hindus?”
Watch ISRO Chairman S Somanath visits temple, discusses Chandrayaan 3 and Gaganyaan mission