Nation's support, PM's address boosted our morale: ISRO Chief

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address and outpouring of support and kind words for ISRO after the unsuccessful bid by Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram module to touch-down on the lunar surface have boosted the morale of its scientists, space agency’s Chairman K Sivan said on Sunday.

“We are extremely happy (with PM’s address as well as nation rallying behind ISRO). It has boosted the morale of our people,” Sivan told PTI.

Former ISRO Chairman K Kasturirangan praised the Prime Minister for inspiring, encouraging and reassuring Sivan and ISRO team and fully backing them.

“We are so touched. The country has given a good, positive response. PM was incredible yesterday.” he told PTI.

“The way he (PM) conveyed it… so passionate… so emotional and sometimes rich with meanings and positive responses. I think we could not have expected anything better. Fantastic,” he said.

Another former ISRO chief A S Kiran Kumar said, “We are definitely grateful to the nation and the PM.”

There are hundreds and thousands of variations that were possible for the soft-landing mission, indicating the complexities, he said.

“We appreciate that the country and people were able to actually take note of this and continue to give their support. So, it’s very positive. We are grateful to the entire country,” he added.

In his address, the Prime Minister asked ISRO scientists not to get disheartened by the setback in the soft-landing mission and asserted that there would be a “new dawn and brighter tomorrow” very soon.

The Prime Minister on Saturday gave a long and tight hug to an emotional Sivan, who was in tears, unable to come to terms over lander Vikram’s unsuccessful bid to soft-land on the moon.

The video of Modi hugging Sivan has gone viral on social media with netizens dubbing it as the hug of over a billion Indians and heaping praises on both.