THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: M Chandradathan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), on Sunday stressed the need for tapping solar power to meet the growing energy requirement of the planet.
Interacting with students at a space symposium organised in connection with the International Book Fair and Science Festival here, he expressed hope that research would focus on reducing the cost of exploiting solar energy to levels comparable with that of other energy sources. ‘’It is necessary to focus all research for the benefit of mankind. That is the immediate concern. One area of focus is energy. Colonisation of Mars and similar projects are something that comes in the future,’’ he said.
India had launched its first Mars mission 50 years after US launched its first one. That India could make it a success at first shot made it a big achievement, he said of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
The mission was a complex one, essentially due to the fact that ISRO had to depend on the less powerful PSLV rocket, and because of the enormous distances over which the spacecraft had to be tracked, he said.
ISRO had subjected all past Mars missions to careful study before undertaking ‘Mangalyaan,’ but luck also played a role in its success, Chandradathan said. ‘’Nothing beyond our calculations occurred, luckily,’’ he said.
In the morning, PSLV project director P Kunhikannan, former VSSC deputy director P Radhakrishnan and former ISRO scientist V P Balagangadharan spoke on various aspects of ISRO and space technology.