Chandrayaan-3 mission: BJP MLA and former Karnataka education minister S Suresh Kumar has written to state School Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa seeking clarification from a Kannada lecturer for allegedly mocking the launch of ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 mission.
Hulikunte Murthy, a lecturer at Malleswaram Government Pre-Graduate College, tweeted in Kannada allegedly claiming that “Chandrayaan-3 will be a failure…”. Murthy using the ‘Tirupati nama’ phrase, he allegedly said that the moon mission will fail this time around as well. Notably, prior to the launch, a team of ISRO scientists offered prayers at the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh ahead of the Chandrayaan-3 launch.
'Hulikunte Murthy has shown unhealthy behaviour'
In the letter, dated July 17, the BJP MLA said that Murthy showed "unhealthy" behaviour by posting against India's ambitious third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3. "While the entire country wishes and prays for the success of Chandrayaan-3, Hulikunte Murthy has shown unhealthy behaviour by posting on social media that 'this time also Chandrayaan gone case' (e salavu chandrayan -3 tirupati naama ansatte) is being said," it read.
"He has shown his freedom of expression in this way. How can such a person motivate our students? I request you to check on him and warn and warn them not to repeat this kind of irresponsible behaviour by this lecturer," the letter said further.
ISRO successfully launched Chandrayaan-3
On July 14, the Indian Space Research Organisation successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on board an LVM3-M4 rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre. After 17 minutes, the satellite was precisely injected into the intended orbit.
As of July 18, ISRO has successfully performed the third orbit-raising manoeuvre (Earth-bound apogee firing) of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft. The next firing is planned for July 20, 2023, between 2 and 3 p.m.
"The mission is on schedule. The third orbit-raising maneuver (Earth-bound perigee firing) is performed successfully from ISTRAC/ISRO, Bengaluru. The next firing is planned for July 20, 2023, between 2 and 3 pm IST," tweets the Indian space agency on Tuesday.
The journey from Earth to the moon for the spacecraft is estimated to take about a month and the landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. One day on the Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth.
(With ANI inputs)
