Space Tech must address environmental issues: Kasturirangan

Chennai, Nov 15 (UNI) Hailing the success of India's maiden moon mission as the greatest achievement, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Kasturirangan today said space technology should be designed to help the mankind and address environmental issues.

Addressing the validictory of the international conference on ''Emerging Scenarios in Space Technology and Applications-2008,'' organised by Sathyabama University here, he said the Chandrayaan-1 mission would go a long way in using the space technology for the benefit of mankind.

Seeking to silence the critics, who questioned the relevance of the Moon mission, stating that it was a waste of money, he said Chandrayaan-1 was the investment for the future as it would pave way for global partnership and for planetary exploration.

He said through the success of the moon mission, scientists of ISRO have shown to the world, India's capability in space technology. The mission would help the scientists to understand the kind of cosmetic system and the universe, he added.

Mr Kastrurirangan, who is the Director of National Institute of Advanced Studies, said space technology, per se, would go a long way in helping the mankind, which faced serious problems on account of global warming.

Presently, only a small size of population was benefited by the space technology, he said, adding only about 15 per cent of the earth was covered by the space technology now.

Calling for wider usage of space technology, he said, the technology would play a vital role in the implications of population explosion, global warming, depletion of bio-resources and other environmental issues in the coming years.

More UNI WS ROY PD BD180