India on World Space

Bringing back memories of India's first man on Space Rakesh Sharma's views on India, where he said 'Sare jahan se accha hindu sita hamara' speaking to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from space; Indian American astronaut Sunita Williams had this to say “I have the opportunity to look at India a number of times from the spacecraft and it looks beautiful. It’s a colorful country. Greenery and red mountains were great.”

Further she had a 10 minute conversation with ISRO from the US International Space Station. Speaking via satellite phone she said, “First of all congratulations, what a great accomplishment”. An excited Sunita Williams said its now time to look for a manned mission to space also.
Earlier on January 10^th 2007, India had launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Sriharikota with an experimental space capsule to evaluate the reusable launch vehicle technology. The spaceport at the Satish Dhawan Centre had seen a lot of action and it all ended with jubilation.
The 44.4-metre tall PSLV will be carrying four satellites, two Indian, two foreign. The Indian satellites are Cartosat-2, to be used for mapping purposes, and the Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SCRE). The other two satellites are Indonesia's Lupan and Argentina's Pehuensat.
According to space experts, the launch assumes significance because of SCRE which will launch India into the world of re-entry technology. Data from the experiment will allow ISRO design a reusable launch vehicle that will take off like a rocket, deploy a satellite and land back like an aircraft. A great achievement by the ISRO Team and we take great pride in congratulating them.

Image courtesy: isro.org