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# The fight over ISRO
- URL: https://balaustine.mymagic.page/the-fight-over-isro/
- Published: 2019-09-10T13:33:02.000Z
- Updated: 2019-09-10T13:33:02.000Z
- Author: VM
- Tags: Op-eds, Chandrayaan 2, ISRO, jingoism, K Sivan, nationalism, Pragyan rover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Twitter, Vikram lander, #Migrated-1787483357778, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-23 11:09

[My report](https://thewire.in/the-sciences/if-chandrayaan-2-was-a-90-95-success-is-the-answer-whats-the-question?ref=balaustine.mymagic.page) about ISRO's '90-95%' success claim vis-à-vis Chandrayaan 2 had precisely three kinds of response, split 49%, 49% and 2%.

One 49% group went like this:

![](https://taphysika.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/screenshot-2019-09-10-at-10.48.07-am.png?w=534)

The other 49% went like this:

![](https://taphysika.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/screenshot-2019-09-10-at-10.47.56-am.png?w=534)

The remainder, which constituted meaningful engagement, was virtually residual.

To add to this, K. Sivan has brought a new thing about him in his position as ISRO chairman, which is to issue loose statements where his predecessors have been a lot more careful and considered. In 2018, he said ISRO would look for He-3 on the Moon – a claim that has since been [thoroughly debunked](https://thewire.in/the-sciences/why-are-we-going-over-the-moon-on-helium-3-all-over-again?ref=balaustine.mymagic.page). Last weekend, he said Chandrayaan 2 was a 95% success, which was eminently debunkable.

Makes one wonder if what one is doing is useful at all – but before this thought process hand-holds one down into a pit of self-deprecation, various temptations take over: confounding factors (that there could be a lot of people out there who appreciate your work but don't tell you about it), trolls and their tendencies (such as compulsive, knee-jerk responses to tweets from a particular account), even doubts about what people use Twitter for (meaningful engagement v. mobilising political forces to affect outcomes offline).

That said, the popular rhetoric swirling around Chandrayaan 2 indicates that ISRO has finally been subsumed by the jingoists' circus – where addled onlookers gather either to applaud or deride launches, trans-orbital manoeuvres and interplanetary journeys and, at the crack of imaginary whips, descend into a brawl over who can be a greater moron for love of the country. One can only hope, after being shoved to the back as a metaphorical wuss, that this rot hasn't taken root within the organisation itself.