Month: September 2013

  • Journalists get a peek at the Mars Orbiter Mission

    Journalists from India (AFAIK) got a peek into the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft on Wednesday. The PTI copy was meticulous but dry. Pallava Bagla at NDTV still insists on calling it Mangalyaan. The other interesting pieces appeared in The Hindu and The Times of India respectively. Might also be worth looking at the links to see pictures of the spacecraft. I wish ISRO put up some pics as well so that poor bloggers like me sitting at home can post them on the blog without having to worry about copyright violations.

    The Mars Orbiter Mission, as ISRO calls it, has come through a rather demanding timeline in terms of space projects to enable it to launch during the October-November 2013 launch window that has opened up to Mars as it closes on its opposition to Earth.  At the previous such opportunity in 2011, the Russians launched the long pending Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars. China piggybacked on the mission with its own small spacecraft the YH-1.

    India also hopes to send a relatively small spacecraft to Mars. The Orbiter will launch on ISRO’s dependable rocket, PSLV using extended strap-ons. The launch itself will be set against the dramatic backdrop of the North-Eastern monsoon and the beginning of the cyclone season in the Bay of Bengal.

    As per press reports, the spacecraft will move to Sriharikota from the ISRO Satellite Center on September 27. This will be after a “national review” which is to be held on September 19. The spacecraft will be integrated on the PSLV-C25, being currently assembled at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota. This PSLV-XL will have slightly larger strap-on motors. The spacecraft will fly from Sriharikota and will use the help of two civilians ships in the south Pacific ocean en-route to the red planet. The spacecraft will take one year to reach Mars. In September 2014, the spacecraft will perform the critical Mars orbit injection maneuver. The first signals from the spacecraft will be received by the NASA Deep Space Network at Canberra, Australia.

    As we prepare, September will be a month of action for ISRO. As it works on the spacecraft to ensure that it is space-worthy, two civilian ships will be sent to the south Pacific ocean on September 15, 2013 from Visakhapatnam. These will help during the phase after launch and whilst the spacecraft will be headed to Mars.

    This page maintained by NASA lists mission failures of the Mission to Mars is a good indicator on why it is a good idea to leave no gaps in mission planning to Mars. Spacecrafts have wide open areas for failure – reaching Earth orbit, the coast to Mars, reaching Mars orbit and perhaps even whilst the orbiter is in orbit. One can but hope.

    Here’s wishing India’s Mars Orbiter Mission Godspeed on its journey to Mars.

  • CryptoParty in Mumbai

    The Free Software Movement Maharashtra in association with the Software Freedom Law Centre organised a Cryptoparty in Mumbai yesterday. The event was scheduled between 10 AM and 1 PM.

    Having organised Wikipedia meetups in the city, I understand how difficult it is to get a good venue for the event. But, an event could be considered useless if it’s not timed properly. Most people perhaps with the exception of IT firms work on Saturdays. So, I do not understand why the timings were kept so. Also, perhaps a time little more to the evening say like 4 PM to 7 PM or even 3 PM to 6 PM, would make it a possibility for people to leave early to work to attend the event.

    One of the reports from the event is here.

  • How Chembur’s Changed

    It has been a little over nine months since I returned from my old workplace in Bharuch, Gujarat. In this time, I’ve been lazy enough to not go out for my evening stroll through Chembur. Today, I finally made the time. I am totally amazed at the ongoing change in what was once a lazy eastern suburb of Mumbai.

    Walking out of Chheda Nagar, I see concrete and steel rise up into the air, the beginning of the Santacruz – Chembur Link Road. The project was scheduled to open in 2008 and recent reports suggest that it will not be open even in 2013. The World Bank funded project that is being built to enhance East to West connectivity has also marred some of the stunning views of sunsets and the visual observation of the planet Venus that I was offered on my evening walks. But, as the board says, Thank you for putting up with this inconvenience now to enjoy a better tomorrow.

    The Sky Walks are the next treat. The concept conceived by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in 2007 as a way of de-congesting the area near the railway stations has been built over old shady roads that were my walking ground in days of college. It has also made me change my decade old walking path. To it’s credit, it’s not as shoddily designed and is built over a route that commuters are used to and helps them avoid going down and climbing up a flight of stairs each.

    The old BEST bus stand at Ambedkar Garden now has a commercial complex consisting of shops at the ground level and houses hospitals and coaching classes at the upper levels. It now becomes easier for kids stressed out at coaching classes to visit the doctor, I guess. The bus goes beyond this structure at the back of which the pass counters and conductors rest places have been built.

    The Central Avenue Road that stretches from the Chembur Railway Station to Diamond Garden on the Sion – Panvel Highway. This road, once a road sided with shade trees and independence era bungalows on both sides of the road, are now lined with high rises and buildings which houses several banks that have opened branches here.

    On the return road through Ahobila Mutt, Sandu Garden, Chembur Head Post Office down to the market, things almost remain the same. Here too, there are some changes. The hall where my first year birthday party was held stands torn down. The hall, my father jokes, would not have seen any event more important than my birthday party. Through the gap one can see the Monorail station coming up. Usually I was able to see the Fine Arts Society, where I gained training in carnatic vocal music as a kid. As I go to the base of the Chembur market bridge I see a skeleton of the Sky walk that would connect the monorail station to the railway station.

    As I walk to the corner store at Amar Mahal to grab a Coke, I am thankful for something remaining the same in the past decade. I do not believe that humans are built to witness this speed or scale of change around us. I think we need these things – parks, buildings and corner stores that are permanent so that we can sit, observe and contemplate on the fast changes that have been transforming Chembur. Whether for good or bad, now, only time will tell.