India flies to the Red Planet: Oh Russia----beware India!

India flies to the Red Planet: Oh Russia----beware India!

Oh Russia----beware India!

Congrats Isro!

        July 2

        It was a historic moment in India's 50-year-old space history. A few minutes after midnight on July 2, the country's first nav sat designated as IRNSS-IA was successfully placed into its orbit rocketing India into the exclusive club of nations having the space navigation capability---the other countries are the US with its Global Positioning System, Russia with its Glonass and the Chinese Compass system.

        India entering this prestigious space club is not without political significance because it reduces its dependence on the US, Russia and China. India will be able to take its own decision in space navigation which could perhaps havi classified applications as as well. In all there will be a constellation of seven nav sats, the last one being in 2015.

        Apart from navigation, these sats will also help in disaster management.

        I was not at Sriharikota last night to witness the grand night lift off ---incidentally it was the first night launch for India. Instead, I sat in my room which is a mini space centre with all its books, posters and rocket models and keyed into doordarshan and set up my laptop. As the events occurred I tweeted.

        All systems were a `go' for the launch and mission director Kunhi Krishnan activated the launch authorisation key around 11.35 p.m. Six minutes later the rocket took off with the nav sat with a blast. What a sight it was!

        I saw that as the mightly four stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle thundered off the launch pad trailing a yellowish plume the night sky over Sriharikota literally lit up. The mission progressed flawlessly and about 20 minutes later the satellite was injected into its orbit. India had zoomed into the exclusive space club. Hats off to the Isro team.

       One thing must be said----the doordarshan commentary was somewhat boring!!!! There was no action or excitement. Viewers would like to hear the comments made by the scientists and engineers in the mission control room, rather the continuos voices of the commentators. I hope for the much-awaited Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) slated for launch in October-November 2013 the launch commentary will be really exciting and alive! a.m.

      About two hours before the launch a TV channel called me and said if they could seek my comments close to the lift off. It called again to reconfirm the arrangement. I said okay, but as usual there was no telephone call till about 1 a.m. I then decided to decactivate my mobile. This particular channel, which claims to expose a number of scams, had done this even earlier. Apparently, there is no planning at all in the channel's editional department.

      Once again a big congrats to Isro. Once again you have done India proud!

     

       

       

All systems are a go for India's first nav sat launch

       June 29

       As I blog on this Saturday evening there is hectic activity at India's spaceport, Sriharikota, near Chennai for the launch of India's first nav sat on Monday at 11.41 p.m. It is a part of the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), and in all a total of seven sats will be launched at six-month intervals, the final one being in 2014.

       The 69-hour final countdown kicked off on Saturday morning.       

       The primary role of these satellites to help in navigation and disaster management, and the system is completely independent of the US and Russian systems.

       The rocket which will carry these sats is Isro's highly dependable work horse, the four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. But, it is the advanced version of the rocket designated as PSLV-XL with bigger strap-on motors. It is the same variant of the launch vehicle which successfully rocketed India to the moon in 2008.

       Data available from Sriharikota indicates that as of today---Saturday evening--all systems are a go for the launch. The lift off and subsequent events are being webcast live and I look forward to watching it. The launch commentators should make it exciting and honestly emulate the example of Nasa!

       God Speed and Good Luck.

       While arrangements are in full swing for a launch in India, Nasa is celebrating the success of its Iris launch on Friday.

       The purpose of the two-year mission is to study the sun in great detail.

        The science mission will be activitated in a month and the data will be analysed at Stanford University.

        It promises to throw more light on the sun.

        Super
      

      

Best book I have ever read----Moon Hoax

     June 28

     Moon Hoax by Paul Gillebaard. Dream Access Books.

     Honestly, Paul Gillebaard, having written his first novel, deserves something more than a Pulitzer Prize for writing this book. For space addicts like me, this is the type of book we would like to read. From the moment I started reading it, I read it slowly, often going through the same para twice. It is gripping, exciting and thrilling. Last night --June 27--I finished reading it, and  felt sorry because the book had come to an end. But, when I closed it, I said to myself that soon I will start reading it once again. I will never get bored of it. Believe me.

     And, I thank Mr Unnikrishnan in California for arranging to obtain a copy of this precious book for me, and that too with the author's autograph.  I hope to meet him sometime.

     Apparently, the inspiration for writing such a beautiful novel has come from the US-USSR space race in the 60.s Nasa's Apollo missions to the moon had a more of a political content than a scientific element. The aim was beat the former Soviets. But, look at the scenario today--both the nations, once hostile towards each other, have teamed up in the journey towards the stars. In Moon Hoax the Russian mission control linked up with the American when the top secret SpaceQuest flight took off with an American, Peter who was once with the CIA, and an old Russian astronaut,Viktor, to the moon. Their highly classified mission: to establish that the Americans had in walked on the moon and the statements being made by the Chinese in the UN was completely false.

     The book infact can be read at four levels. These are:-

     (1)  The moon race between the US and China.

     (2)  The technology behind the flight to the moon in the SpaceQuest rocket and Galileo spacecraft by Peter and Viktor to discredit the Chinese statements.

     (3)   The love affair between Anya and Peter.

     (4)   A son deciding to sacrifice his life for his father in order to restore the latter's credibility in the face of Chinese allegations in the UN that the Americans never landed on the moon. Infact Peter should be a role model for all sons! 

     Hats off to Paul for studying the geo political aspects of space missions before writing the book. Just as the US and Russia have joined hands post Cold War in various space exploration programmes---Russia indeed has made quite a contribution to Nasa's highly successful Curiosity mission to the Red Planet---it is China which finally rescued Peter after the latter completed his challenging task of photographing various US landing zones on the moon, especially the area where his dad touched down 40 years ago. He risked his life to prove that the Chinese were making absolutely false statements about the American manned lunar programme.

     But, at the end, the book concludes on a note of irony----thanks to the Chinese Peter was able to get back home and above all to his Anya and his yet-to-be-born baby. When the Chinese knew that the Americans had launched a mission to the moon to reprogramme their laser, they launched a flight with two taikonauts to ensure that the Americans do not succeed!  Interestingly, their spacecraft was the Shenzhou 10. In real life, the Chinese had launched the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft a fortnight ago with three taikonauts--two men and woman which has just returned. I got to read the book at the appropriate time.

     There is not a single dull moment in this book. No incident is stretched to a point which taxes the patience of the reader. The suspense builds up beautifully making the reader want to know what is going to happen next. Let me repeat,it is hard to keep down the book. Astronauts like Ed Gibson and moonwalker, Charlie Duke have provided advice and guidance for this book project

     A word about the title of the book--Moon Hoax. The Chinese tried to prove that the US statements about 12 humans landing on the moon between July 1969 and December 1972 was a hoax. And at the end, the Americans successfully proved that what the Chinese were saying was a hoax. So Moon Hoax!



     In my opinion the book is only a partial sci--fi. The reason?  The placing of the laser on the moon to destroy satellites and spacecraft perhaps can one day become a reality. Any nation wanting to be a space super power can be inspired from Moon Hoax!!! After all China has an anti-satellite weapon.

     The book is an excellent material for a film and Paul must now seriously think about this. I am sure the movie will be an international box office hit what with the current space race among different nations.

      One more thing--this book should be easily available at all bookstores. I am now eagerly waiting for Space Hoax by Paul and this time I want to buy it at a local bookshop!

      Once again thank you Mr Unnikrishnan.   

           

Tamilnadu turns Red.

All is a go for Mars

      India and its space achievers.

      Srinivas Laxman

      May 23 2013

      Hi Folks!

      I am back again, but this time it goes by the new name----India flies to the Red Planet. Earlier, it was called ``Beyond Moon and Mars.''

      The inspiration for restarting the space blog came from none other than my very good friend and advisor, Syed Ahmed Maqbool, an extremely talented space scientist, who played a key role in the discovery of water on the moon on November 14,2008. He was a key figure behind the ChaCe payload of Chandrayaan-1's the Moon Impact Probe.

       Unfortunately, Syed's super achievement never hit the headlines---something of course which is typically Indian. If he had attained a similar breakthrough in the US, be sure he would have become a space hero and been rewarded in a big way. He was at one time with Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Let me clarify, that I am neither pro-US nor anti-Indian. I am just stating the facts. The truth is that in India today, it is proving to be quite a challenge for a super performer to be recognised and rewarded. It is therefore not surprising that many Indian origin scientists who were part of Nasa's Curiosity mission have made it to the top. In contrast, in the Chandrayaan mission--India's first mission to the moon-- there are a number of unsung heroes! Why not recognise them?

       Now about the name of the blog---``India Flies To the Red Planet.''  It is pretty appropriate because hopefully in October-November 2013 Isro will be launching its maiden mission to Mars with five payloads and I am passionate about this mission and I want to be part of it.

       Although I am not a space scientist, I still have played a small role in this mission. And how? In December 2012 my book: ``Mars Beckons India: The Story of India's Mission To Mars,'' was published by Vigyan Prasar, an affiliate of the government of India's department of science and technology. It was great working with Vigyan Prasar and Isro, particularly my good friend, D.P.Karnik, who provided all the help. Thank you both of you.

       The book was launched by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, at the 100th anniv of the Indian Science Congress in Kolkata. Yes, a great thing, but the launch event was a total fiasco! Since, then the book has not received much publicity and what is worse booksellers in Mumbai are not aware of its existance. In my next blog I plan to give some details about this book.Its Hindi edition was released recently.

       With five to six months left for the much-awaited lift off for the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission, the media will be full of stories and features relating to this flight. Keeping this in view I have suggested to Vigyan Prasar that it should consider having an informal publicity campaign about this book.

       Let us see what happens.

       And Syed thanks once again. I will call you Mac from today!!!!!