President Lula da Silva, since returning to office January 1, had not said much about reviving Brazil’s space and next-to-nothing about its nuclear programs. Then, in the midst of the BRICS summit, India landed on the moon.
In his weekly “Conversation with the President” broadcast Tuesday, Aug. 29, Lula reported he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi how India had achieved this feat, since Brazil had started building its Alcantara Launch Center with big plans for its space program around the same time India began launching rockets. Alcantara and Brazil’s space program exist, but barely, and India is on the Moon. Lula was totally bowled over by Modi’s answer, and intends to do something about it:
“I spoke to President Modi, the Prime Minister of India, and congratulated him on the rocket launch. They started launching rockets at the time Brazil was building its space base. Okay? Brazil, since it didn’t have the necessary investment, is where it’s at, and [it] didn’t go any further. What he told me was exceptional. They have 100 schools—100 schools!—where kids are studying and making rockets. And these rockets will all be launched into space by the students themselves. I was amazed! I was amazed, because it’s not 1 school, it’s 100 schools, because they invest a lot in science, they invest a lot. And this is something we need to do here in Brazil, because we also have many, many, many, many people who are geniuses, we just need to give them the opportunity to flourish.”
