India’s ambitious space missions have caught the attention of an experienced NASA astronaut who attended a conference in Kochi recently. Steve Smith, a four time space flyer with over 16 million miles under his belt, applauded India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) for its pioneering efforts. As the first nation to successfully reach the red planet on its debut try, Smith said every Indian should take pride in this stellar accomplishment.
Smith also praised ISRO for soft landing Chandrayaan-3 near the lunar south pole last year, an area many other agencies had struggled to explore. Within 11 months of India’s feat, four separate attempts by Japan, Russia and private US entities to touch down in the same region all ended in failure. Speaking at an event on lessons from his career, the astronaut acknowledged ISRO’s upcoming Gaganyaan mission to send Indians into orbit. One of the selected astronauts hails from Kerala, showing the state’s strong representation in the space sector.
The veteran recalled befriending late Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawla and shared his own experience facing four rejections from NASA despite tremendous perseverance. He hailed SpaceX founder Elon Musk for following his audacious vision, just as ISRO continues setting ambitious milestones. In a fact-driven, jargon-free recount, Smith enthusiastically highlighted India’s rising space prowess on the global stage.
