As India launches ‘Mangalyaan’, India’s first ever Mars mission, the excitement and energy is shared by the student community as well. Many of them were enthusiastic to share their visions, opinions and speculations regarding the project.
Abdul Aziz, a first-year Msc Space Science Student from St Albert’s College, said he as a space science student has high expectations for the mission. “It is a great achievement for space research in India. ISRO will be a credible name in the field of space research just as NASA and Mangalyaan is a testimony to that,” said Abdul Aziz.
However, for many like Karanjith, the mission was undertaken tad bit late.
“We may boast that it is a massive breakthrough but in reality we are far behind Japan or China in technology. This mission can be either a success or failure. Instead of blustering and feeling overconfident because of previous Chandrayaan’s success, we must be trying hard to make sure the efforts wont go in vain,” he said.
The popular sentiments regarding the mission among the youth was enthusiasm. “We are really looking forward to the result of the mission. If it succeeds, India will take its place among the foremost nations in Martian exploration. This is just a beginning or a first step in India’s interplanetary exploration,” said a group of students here.
However, there were a few who expressed a different opinion. “I am quite skeptical about the whole thing. Shouldn’t our priority be development and eradication of poverty. Utilising `450 crores for such mission may be unwarranted.
There were a few others who were ignorant about the whole mission too.
“Mangalyaan is a store in Lulu mall,isn’t it?” this was the instant reaction from a student in the city.