'Forays into Space'

Yesterday turned out to be one of the best days of my college life. Our college alumni association had invited probably its most distinguished alumnus, Dr. K Kasturirangan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation and currently a Member of Parliament, to deliver a lecture on 'Forays into Space: Some Personal Reminiscences'. And what a lecture it was!

He talked about how he started out as a fresh graduate from our college, with a Masters in Physics, responding to an advertisement in the papers by the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. We were enthralled by his description of the selection process he went through then, being interviewed by none other than Dr. Vikram Sarabhai himself. Dr. Sarabhai inspired him to stick to Physics research and be an asset to the growing demands of the development of science in India at a time when the space race between the US and the Soviet Union was at its zenith. He described Dr. Sarabhai as someone who could influence and convince young minds and ignite their passion for learning through mistakes and creativity. He went on to talk about how he came to join ISRO after obtaining his PhD in Experimental High Energy Astronomy.

The parts that described India's first trysts with space was the most riveting part of the lecture. India launched its first two satellites, Aryabhata and Bhaskara I, the first Earth Observation Satellite, from the Soviet Union as its own Satellite Launch Vehicle(SLV) program was under development. What brought a round of applause for the speaker and his fellow scientists at ISRO was the story of the Indian Remote Sensing satellites.

Though the launch of the IRS-1A was a success there was a problem with the on-board camera equipment. The ISRO engineers and scientists tested the replica of the satellite on the ground in space-simulated conditions. They left the ground replica for tests and soon enough the same problem occurred in the model. They licked the problem after applying knowledge of theoretical physics learnt in college! The two IRS satellites IRS- 1A and IRS 1B have contributed immensely to the study of agricultural resources, geology, water bodies, crop patterns, soil study and oceanography. While at that time, the US LANDSAT and the French SPOT were ahead in the technology of the camera resolution, the guys at ISRO took it upon themselves to have the next two IRS satellites, IRS-1C and IRS-1D leave them far behind. They thought " Why should westerners say that the Indian Earth Observation satellites are comparable to the best in the world? We should have them saying, 'Our satellites should be comparable to the Indian ones'. " And they did it. Indeed, IRS-1C and IRS 1D, at the time of their launch, were the best in the world.

He talked about how India came to plan its moon mission. A passing reference to the observation in one of its report, ISRO commented that India can aim for the moon. The press played this up, and soon it caught the imagination of the people in the country. A series of assessment reports followed and the Indian Science Academy did feel that India has what it takes to go to the moon. With the support of the Parliament, ISRO came out with its ambitious Chandrayaan plan. He narrated a short humorous anecdote of his meeting with the then PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Vajpayee changed the name of the mission from Chandrayaan to Chandrayaan I. On being asked, he told Dr. Kasturirangan, "Kya Kasturiranganji, ek hi mission? We should have a series of moon missions!" This attracted squeals of laughter from the audience.

His lecture was filled with passion and devotion, for the science, for India's space programme and of course, India itself. His talk instilled the same passion into the hearts of the students, that he has for his country. His talk was extremely moving in some parts and passionately motivating in others. Let me tell you, after the one hour lecture, everyone in the college auditorium wanted to be a scientist! Even arts teachers!

But the moment of the talk would have to be the Q & A session we had with him. And I took an opportunity to ask him a question too. My question was, "Can you shed some light on India's Reusable Satellite Launch Vehicle programme and is India planning a programme on the lines of the US Space Shuttle program?"

I will always remember the period for which he looked at me while answering the question. I was overwhelmed by the stature of the man who has done so much for his country. For those few minutes, I heard nothing else.

He really inspired us to be something for our country. As they say, great men are also great motivators.

In all it was the best hour I had in college.

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The pic shows the image of the Colaba area of south Bombay taken by IRS-1C
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