Washington: Apparently under prodding from the White House, NASA has said it will continue to cooperate with the ISRO, days after the US space agency’s chief criticised India and termed its anti-satellite weapon test a ‘terrible thing’ for creating about 400 pieces of orbital debris.
In a letter to ISRO chairman K Sivan, NASA administrator James Bridenstine said ‘based on the guidance received from the White House’, he looks forward to continuing to work with ISRO on a host of issues including human space flights.
“As part of our partnership with you, we will continue to work on issues using the NASA-ISRO Human Space Flight Working Group, Planetary Science Working Group, US India Earth Science Working Group and the Heliophysics Working Group,” Bridenstine said.
In his letter, Bridenstine also mentions that even though earlier he had written to ISRO about the suspension of cooperation on human space flight, it stands null and void.
From the April 4 letter, it appears that after the White House weighing in, the cooperation remains intact. The letter comes days after NASA chief Bridenstine in a town hall meeting criticised India’s anti-satellite missile (ASAT) test because of the debris it generated in the space and its potential threat to the International Space Station (ISS).
“The anti-satellite weapons test by India last week has resulted in about 400 pieces of orbital debris,” he said April 1, adding ‘that is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris and an apogee that goes above the International Space Station’.
PTI