Science minister says Pak sent Hubble Telescope in space, gets trolled

Islamabad, May 6

Pakistan’s Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry was trolled online after he said that the Hubble Space Telescope was sent into space by the country’s space agency Suparco, instead of NASA.

Chaudhry, speaking in a talk show on Geo News, claimed that “the world’s biggest telescope … was sent by Suparco [Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission]”.

“… one of the ways to see is the Hubble Telescope, which is the world’s biggest telescope and was sent [into space] by Suparco, which is installed in a satellite,” he said.

The Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) is responsible for Pakistan’s public and civil space programme and for aeronautics and aerospace research.

He went on to add, “Then there are other satellites, and there are other (types of) technologies.”          

The minister’s gaffe triggered hilarious reactions and memes on Twitter.

“May be NASA head will resign and also join the Ministry of @fawadchaudhry as head of Suparco,” one user tweeted.

“You have really surpassed all your predecessors. Just a few days under your patronage we realized that SUPARCO has sent ‘hubal’ telescope into space.. Incredible. Mr. PM @ImranKhanPTI should send such discoverer into space as a reward..! #Pakistan @MaryamNSharif,” another user tweeted.

Interestingly, Chaudhry in November last year when he was the minister of information said “there are some politicians who are creating chaos on the ground and should be sent to space”.      

“I will ask Suparco to ensure that once these politicians go to space, they cannot return,” he had said.

Hubble Space Telescope was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It is named after astronomer Edwin Hubble and is one of NASA’s great observatories.

Hubble’s launch marked the most significant advance in astronomy since Galileo’s telescope. — PTI