Chandrayaan-1 was a 95 per cent success: Fincke 

Shillong, Sep 9 : US astronaut Edward Michael Fincke today said India's ambitious maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-1 was a 95 per cent success. 

''Though India's mission to the moon came to an abrupt end, Chandrayaan-1 was not entirely a failure,'' the NASA astronaut told journalists here. 

The American astronaut, now called in India as 'Assam's son-in-law', interacted with the students' community at the St Anthony's College auditorium, here. 

However, Fincke ducked commenting on the failure of India's Chandrayaan-1 mission, saying that the matter was under investigation, but felt that India's moon mission was a 95 per cent success. 

In fact, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Chairman G Madhavan Nair had said India's first lunar mission was a complete success, achieving 95 per cent of its objectives. 

''It survived for 315 days which is a very good track record, considering many other similar missions have burnt off within the first month,'' Mr Nair said. 

Asked on ISRO's scientific advancement, Mr Fincke said, ''Just like NASA is a pride of the US, ISRO is as much a pride of India and must be complemented.'' When asked, Mr Fincke, also the commander of International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 18, rubbished the perception that investment in space research by developing countries like India was a wasteful expenditure. 

''One needs to balance social obligation of a nation and future prospects of returns,'' he said, adding the ISS has just started getting some returns on its space investment. 

The NASA astronaut, who has a total of 365 days, 21 hours and 32 minutes space experience, said Russia has started getting returns from space tourism. 

''Investment in space research is not a wasteful expenditure if you look at future returns,'' Mr Fincke, who has been selected by NASA to go to space for the third time in 2010 as mission specialist, said. 

Eulogising astronauts of Indian origin Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams and Rakesh Sharma, Mr Fincke said they are very bright and have made India proud in their own achievements.