Mahindra group chairman Anand Mahindra on Wednesday said the US was being hypocritical, a day after space agency NASA termed the space debris generated by the recently conducted Anti-Satellite missile (ASAT) test by India as a ‘terrible thing’.
“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,” he tweeted.
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…. https://t.co/QFqCnES2gt
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) April 2, 2019
According to NASA, India’s test in which a satellite was shot down at a low-orbit of 300 km, had created 400 pieces of debris and had led to a risk for astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
The US earlier said it was tracking more than 250 pieces of debris from the test. After India conducted the ASAT test, several top US officials reacted on it.
“We all live in space, let’s not make it a mess,” US’ acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said. “Space is a place where people should have the freedom to operate,” he added.
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On Monday, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said, “That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris and an apogee that goes above the international space station.”
India test-fired an anti-satellite (ASAT) missile on March 27 under Mission Shakti.
Earlier, Tapan Misra, senior advisor to ISRO chairman also countered the NASA claim that the debris from India’s anti-satellite (ASAT) missile test has increased a collision risk to the International Space Station (ISS) by 44 per cent.
He said that Indian scientists will not do anything to shame India and the debris from the “Mission Shakti” experiment will burn out in the next six months.