Space feat: Kerala to felicitate ISRO team

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Wednesday said the state government will honour ISRO chairman K. Radhakrishnan and his team for the unique achievement of India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).

India earlier in the day created space history by becoming the first country in the world whose Mars mission entered the planet's orbit in its debut attempt.

India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) traversed over 650 million km in over nine months to reach the Red Planet's orbit.

Speaking to reporters here, Chandy said that during the cabinet meeting he called up Radhakrishnan and conveyed the happiness of the entire state at the ISRO team's achievement..

"We have decided to honour Radhakrishnan and his team by holding a civic reception here," Chandy said. The date for the civic reception would be decided later, he added.

Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan too conveyed his good wishes to ISRO and its cheif.

Chandy said that as a token of its appreciation on this historic day, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment has announced 10 post-doctoral fellowships in various topics.

These fellowships named "Mangalyan" will give a monthly dole of Rs.30,000 for two years.

Earlier in the day, former top ISRO scientist Nambinarayanan and Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar led special prayers at the Pazhavangadi Maha Ganapathy temple here.

The three units of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, all located in the state capital, also celebrated the event.

The state-run ISRO became the fourth international space agency after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the US, the Russian Federal Space Agency (RFSA) and the European Space Agency to have undertaken successful missions to Mars.