Bhubaneswar: India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma Wednesday advised policy makers of the state to control environmental pollution to ensure the existence of human life for a long time.
Delivering a lecture at Orissa Knowledge Hub (OKH) here at the secretariat on ‘Manned Space Flight: A Learning Experience’, Sharma said earth’s environmental degradation due to pollution was clearly visible from space.
“If pollution is not tackled, the human race will become extinct,” he said. He claimed growing consumerism and materialistic culture will lead to extinction of human race unless it is moderated by the wisdom of holistic living with natural eco-system.
Sharma said in recent days green coverage in some states including Orissa has increased but all the countries must work together to maintain a balanced eco-system.
Speaking on the future of space research, Sharma said countries should collaborate to avoid wastage of resources in ‘re-inventing the wheel’.
“Anyone who goes to space looks at his/her own country first but soon it appears that there is no boundary between the countries and the entire world is one family and our destinies are interlinked,” the former astronaut said.
Highlighting Orissa’s maritime history, Sharma wished the next space flight in search of another planet for humans will be launched from Chandipur.
Science students from various institutions participated in the lecture and made several queries. The students asked questions relating to what one eats during a space voyage, how to prepare for space flight, aliens, whether space research should be carried on at the cost of natural resources used for space flights etc.
Answering a question if another human habitable planet exists, Sharma said, “We should work to create a haven here rather than shifting to another world.”
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