The launch of Chandrayaan-I, India’s first unmanned moon mission, was almost deferred minutes before blast-off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. “The flow of propellant in the second phase of the vehicle was not right and we had to take corrective measures. The problem, which was noticed on Monday evening, continued to bother us till the last hour,” project director M Annadurai said. But finally everything fell in place.
PSLV takes off in three seconds as a cloud of fire blurs vision
Isro chairman G Madhavan Nair (centre) with fellow scientists at a press conference at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota soon after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1
It is a historic moment. We have begun our journey to the moon. It has been a remarkable performance by the launch vehicle (PSLV C11), which was perfectly launched. Every parameter of the mission performed as per the plan.
-Madhavan Nair, Isro chairman
“This marks the first step in what we hope will be a historic milestone in India’s space programme. I congratulate all the scientists associated with this mission for the successful completion of the first step. When completed, the mission will put India in the very small group of six countries, which have thus far sent space missions to the moon.”
-Manmohan Singh, Prime minister
“This day shall go down as a landmark in our space programme, a day which will inspire our space scientists to further work on our mission to put an Indian astronaut into space using an Indian space capsule. Congratulations to you and your team at Isro for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1... I am keenly looking forward to the entry of Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit a few days from now.”
-Pratibha Patil, President
“Our space scientists have made the country proud with this extraordinary achievement that expands our scientific knowledge about the moon and demonstrates the high level of technological capabilities of our scientists. I congratulate our space scientists and all those associated with this successful mission to the moon for this splendid achievement.”
-Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice president
“The US congratulates India on the successful launch. This is a proud moment in Indian history and demonstrates India’s technological prowess by joining the international community in the peaceful exploration of space.”
-David Mulford, US ambassador to India
“We congratulate Isro on the successful launch this morning and we are eagerly looking forward to science to begin.”
-David Southwood, director of science, ESA
“It was an emotional experience all over again and it gave me the opportunity to relive my flight itself… I must say the tension was higher … this was different. ISRO has kind of come of age and is ready to take on exploration in a big way,”
-Rakesh Sharma, India’s first man in space
“Launching of the mission is first step and I hope every step of the mission falls at the right place.”
-APJ Abdul Kalam, Former president of India
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