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Updated April 2nd, 2019 at 16:15 IST

Anand Mahindra sticks up for India and counters NASA over its A-SAT opinion, says it's a case of 'pot calling kettle black'

Business Tycoon Anand Mahindra has slammed the head of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who branded India's destruction of one of its satellites a "terrible thing".

Reported by: Daamini Sharma
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Business Tycoon Anand Mahindra has slammed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) who branded India's destruction of one of its satellites a "terrible thing". Taking to Twitter, the Mahindra group Chairman mounted a scathing attack on NASA, after it made a statement that India created 400 pieces of orbital debris:

"A case of the pot calling the kettle black. From a nation that created most of the debris in space over decades, this is an audacious statement."

Mr. Mahindra's statement came after Jim Bridenstine was addressing employees of NASA after India shot down a low-orbiting satellite in a missile test to prove it was among the world's advanced space powers.

It is to be noticed that the US is responsible for the most debris in space, followed by Russia and China.

The US owns the title of the dirtiest country in space for now, and just by a hair. Russia has 3,961 pieces of detectable space debris compared to the 3,999 pieces of trackable space trash in orbit created by American activity. China has only recently ramped up its space program, yet it's in a close third with 3,475 hunks of space junk.

Read: What Is A-SAT, The Space Weapon With Which India Completed 'Mission Shakti' And Entered An Elite Space League. Read Here

Earlier on March 27, 2019, India entered an elite club of nations that are capable of knocking off satellites in space, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Wednesday after a DRDO missile tested off the Odisha coast successfully hit a low orbit satellite.

In a much-anticipated address, PM Modi said that `Mission Shakti’ was a difficult target to achieve but was completed within three minutes of the missile launch. 

“Today is 27th March. A while ago, India achieved a historic feat. India today registered itself as a space power. Till now, 3 countries of the world- America, Russia, & China had this achievement. India is the 4th country to have achieved this feat,” he said. 

“The ASAT missile will give new strength to India's space program. I assure international community that our capability won't be used against anyone but is purely India's defence initiative for its security,” he said. 

"Mission Shakti was a highly complex one, conducted at extremely high speed with remarkable precision. It shows the remarkable dexterity of India’s outstanding scientists and the success of our space program,” the PM concluded. 

 

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Published April 2nd, 2019 at 16:09 IST

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