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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath on Sunday met the family members of agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan who passed away on September 28.
Speaking to reporters following his visit, Somanath said that he had the opportunity to meet Swaminathan earlier when he was "very active". "I came here to pay my tribute to Dr MS Swaminathan and his family. I had an opportunity to meet him earlier when he was very active, travelling especially when he used to come to Trivandrum," the ISRO chief said while speaking to reporters on Sunday in Chennai. Lauding Swaminathan's contribution to making the country self-reliant in food production, the ISRO chief said that it was his passion for scientific research that drives scientists like him. "All of us know Swaminathan's contribution to making our country self-reliant in food production and removing poverty. It was his passion and his love for doing such scientific research that drives all of us," he said. On the friendship Swaminathan shared with other eminent scientists in post-independent India like Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhaba, Somanath said, "He had such great friendship with people like Vikram Sarabhai, Homi Bhaba and others in the early days of building this nation." "That's the connection between space and agriculture and that brings people together. Whoever is working in whichever field, whether it is space, agriculture, sustainability or many other domains, we all find a place to work together," he added. The ISRO chief said that the space agency is working on a slew of projects including the ambitious human space flight program, Gaganyan. "We are working on the Gaganyan program or the human space flight program whose launch is going to take place now. We have other exploration missions, we have planets to go to like Mars, Venus and again sometimes to the moon," Somanath said. "We have programs to look at the climate and weather of Earth. We have regular launches for communication and remote sensing activities. Also, scientific missions are in the pipeline to look at issues like aeronomy, thermal imaging, climate change and assessment," he added. Speaking on Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander, which is in 'sleep mode' on the moon, the ISRO chief said that it has done its job well and hopes that it sleeps well. "It is happily sleeping on the moon. It has done its job and its mission very well. We are hoping that it will sleep very well. Maybe if it wishes to wake up, let it wake up, untill then we will wait," Somanath said in a light-hearted comment. The ISRO chief also shared that the Aditya L1 mission to study the sun underwent a slight correction in its trajectory and will reach the L1 point in mid-January. L1 refers to Lagrange Point 1 of the Sun-Earth system. "Aditya L1 is on its path to L1 point. It is a long journey of almost 110 days. So it has covered some distance now. In between we corrected a little bit of its trajectory. Early correction is important to reach the L1 point. After tracking we found that it is going in the right direction towards L1," Somanath said. "It is a complex journey. It will take almost another 70-75 days further to reach there. It will reach in the middle of January," he added. The ISRO chief said that in January, the trajectory will be corrected a little bit before entering the L1 point, following which all the instruments aboard the satellite will be turned on. "At that time (January) we will correct it (trajectory) a little bit to enter into the orbit at the L1 point. After that all instruments will be switched on and it will do scientific data training. Currently, everything is healthy on Aditya L1," Somanath said. (ANI)
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