Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Centre in Bengaluru to interact with ISRO scientists on the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 mission on the lunar surface.
A visibly emotional PM Modi addressed the scientists involved in the Chandrayaan-3 mission and lauded them for their efforts. "I salute your dedication, patience and hard work," he said as he turned emotional.
On Wednesday evening as the Lander Module of Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully touched down on the lunar surface, Modi had joined the ISRO team at Mission Operations Complex (MOX) at ISTRAC virtually from Johannesburg, where he was attending the 15th BRICS summit.
"Today, I am feeling a different level of happiness... such occasions are very rare. This time, I was so restless, I was in South Africa but my mind was with you," he said.
He also announced the decision to name the place where lander 'Vikram' touched down on the lunar surface as "Shiva Shakti Point". August 23, the day the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface, would be celebrated as "National Space Day", said the Prime Minister.
The place where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprint on the Lunar surface in 2019 will be known as 'Tiranga Point', he stated.
The PM was accorded a warm reception as he arrived at the ISRO headquarters this morning. PM Modi met the team of scientists involved in Chandrayaan-3 and enveloped ISRO chief Somanath in a hug. India on Wednesday scripted history as its third unmanned Moon mission's lander module made a flawless soft-landing, making it only the fourth country to achieve this feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.