INDIAN SPACE PROGRAMMES
The modern space- age can
be said to have begun with the launching of the Sputniks by Russia. Since then
research and efforts in .space travel have assumed many dimensions. The landing
of man on the moon, the launch of space shuttles, and stations etc. and the
spectacular success of such spaceships as Mir, Viking, Voyager, Galileo,
Ulysses, etc. reflect the strides taken in space by man. In the words of
American President, Mr. Bush, “The infrastructure of space launch capability
would be to the 21st century what the great highways and projects were to the
20th. Reliable space-launches would provide the ‘highway’ to solar system in
the next century. We are well underway with unmanned explorations of the solar
system.”
India’s
entry into space-age is rather late, but it is said that better late than
never. The beginning was made in 1975, when India launched its first scientific
satellite Aryabhatta I into space, in collaboration with the U. S. S. R. As we
did not have our own rocket-launcher, we were helped by the Russians. However,
it gave the country space status. The second satellite, Bhaskara I, was
launched on 7th June, 1979 from a Soviet commodore. This 444 kg experimental
satellite contained instruments for carrying out remote sensing experiments. India launched Mangalyaan successfully at the planet Mars. And earlier India had launched Chandaryaan 2 successfully at Moon.
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