Mission Aditya by 2021, says former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan

Tarnaka: Mission Aditya, the L1 mission similar to NASA’s Parker Solar probe that would study the sun would be launched by 2021, said former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan. It is a team work rather than individual excellence behind the ISRO’s success, he said, while addressing 31st foundation day of CCMB here on Monday.

Hailing the efforts of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Radhakrishnan said he was thrilled by seeing I-HUB in the institution. He briefed them on the achievements of ISRO in the space technology and explained how they were able to send satellites in a cost-effective manner.

Radhakrishnan informed that as many as 1,450 satellites were operating in the world, in which communication & navigation satellites accounted for 55 per cent, the earth observatory 20 per cent, on military six per cent and scientific 19 per cent. The former ISRO chief informed that the ISRO was going to launch Mission Aditya, a spacecraft to study the sun, by 2021 and Gaganyan by 2022. He said the global exploration road map has been charted by 15 space agencies. Radhakrishnan mentioned about the significance of 5 Es in space technology namely, Exploration, Exploitation, Engineering, Enterprise and Engagement.

Radhakrishnan stressed on the need of research in the area of bioastronautics. He replied to the questions posed by students. Earlier, CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra explained the achievements of the institution during 2017-18. He said researchers of the institution were developing SM 93 (rice) seed, to benefit farmers, which would give higher yield.