Category: Space

  • India going to study the Sun

    This blog post was recovered from the Way Back Machine and may have existed on many avatars of the previous blogs that I owned. Some links are broken.

    Immediately after the successful launch of Chandrayaan-I, then ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair announced Aditya-1, a spacecraft to study our Sun. Updates coming over the last one month have updates on this ISRO mission as well as interest in Solar Physics.

    Aditya-1 is a 100 kg spacecraft under development by ISRO in association with Udaipur Solar Observatory, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Radio Astronomy Centre and National Centre for Radio Astrophysics. This Rs. 50 crores space based solar observatory will be in a 600 km low Earth orbit and is expected to fly in 2012 close to Solar Maxima.The spacecraft will

    Reports indicate that the Indian Institute of Astrophysics has completed the design of the solar coronagraph. ISRO is working on developing the detectors and thermal structure. First spacecraft prototype is expected in 2011. While the main idea is to study coronal mass ejections (CMEs), ISRO hopes to utilise the data to know how to better protect its satellite systems in orbit.

    The IIA is also involved in the development of a ground based solar observatory in the Himalayas with national and international mission. The fabrication of the telescope is expected to begin in 2010 with IIAp has already floated the tender.

  • NASA Space Policy conundrum and our Final Destination

    For months now, the fast moving US government (in comparison to the
    Indian government) has been debating about where NASA should take the
    US in the years to come. The expectation comes out of Obama’s
    comparison with John F Kennedy, who had given Nasa the mandate of
    putting a man on the Moon and returning him back safely.

    To think of a decadal or 4 year goal for Nasa is pretty stupid. Also,
    thinking in terms of Moon or Mars is VERY narrow and worse of all is
    wasting decades in setting a course.

    The Japanese example of their rise from World War II ruins and
    Columbus’ quest come to mind and in comparison colonising Moon and
    Mars look puny.

    To colonise the Solar System before this century is out… is more
    along the lines of NASA target I’m thinking of. Then set decadal goals
    and ensure Nasa reaches them.

    This post is applicable to my favourite space agency. (Hint: it’s not
    NASA) and I think that my fav agency is imperceptibly headed that way.

  • Getting Students Interested in LARS

    A key pre-requisite to starting a lunar simulation project is to have
    enough people interested in it. The Chandrayaan mission has piqued
    media interest in the Moon.

    However, people still look at it through mysterious eyes. People think
    Apollo 11 was a hoax. They don’t know that 12 people have gone to the
    Moon. Even the amateur astronomy community does not know of many lunar
    features on the Moon.

    Under such circumstances, it is useful to get students interested.
    Accordingly, we plan to unveil a series of events and mini projects to
    get things going. The announcements begin on October 4.

  • Lunar Analog Research Station – India

    My first knowledge of an analog research station was Arctic Mars
    Analog Station Expedition or AMASE. A thought process carried forward
    with Flashline Mars Analog Research station or FMARS. The Moon Miners
    Manifesto’s India Quarterly expanded on the theme and brought the
    subject of a similar station for the Moon in India at the backdrop of
    the Chandrayaan series of missions to the Moon.

    I became a member of the Moon Society this summer and have begun
    planing on what can eventually be a lunar research station in India.

    I am still reading through papers and worrying about geting people
    on-board before begining the actual effort. I’m also working out a
    simultaneous outreach and education effort that will focus on the
    Chandrayaan series and serve the project’s basis.

  • My Days at SEDS

    Note: I wrote this on my earlier blog hosted as https://pradx.org/blog. I recovered the text from the WayBack Machine. This post appeared on April 9, 2009 as per the permalink. I’m trying to collect here again all my old writings spread on various blogs.

    In about a month or two, I will graduate from college and will head out to follow a career path that I hope will some day lead me to the door steps of ISRO. As one of the co-starters of SEDS in India, I thought you may be interested in sharing the journey of SEDS till date. My passion for outer space started way back when I was 13 years old and I have been smitten ever since. Despite the best efforts from several people, I have not been able to go off the path of space sciences. At age 17, sitting in an internet cafe, looking for a space organisation, the first one that came up was Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS).

    I was able to find several amateur astronomy clubs in India but none that were dedicated to space engineering. I learnt however that some did exist but I seemed to have been not patient enough to find them. I shared my concern on the forums of SEDS and there was able to meet several people who convinced me that I can be the right person to start the Indian extension of SEDS. While I remained non-commital, I was introduced to Abhishek Ray who seems to have found out about SEDS in the same way and had expressed the same interest.

    So, way back in late 2004 and early 2005, with a simple forums announcment, we got started with SEDS in India. We started off with perhaps 10 members or so. Even with such humble beginnings the dreams of two late teens clashed with what SEDS could be or do in India. We both felt that the ultimate thrill would be for ISRO to some day come to us looking for great leaders who could lead their projects and missions. What a thrill that would be!

    Things did get difficult from there on and we had a lean patch where SEDS was not doing much and we were mostly co-ordinating and working towards an international SEDS organisation than building anything here in India. Throughout this phase of SEDS in India, I would like to specially point to the help provided by Kirk Kittell, then a Vice Chair at SEDS USA.

    Enter Pranav Aggrawal and the chapter at Vellore Institute of Technology University. After failing with a two chapter model, we thought of putting all efforts into building one chapter properly that could then serve as an example for several other chapters across the country. By working on one chapter with effective results we thought that this could help people understand our work better and also aid forming chapters.

    With this intention most of 2007 and 2008 was spent building up the chapter of SEDS at VIT University. This was an era of several wonderful conversations and idea storms that I shared with Pranav Aggrawal and we are still a bit sad that we were not able to implement many of the ideas that we did have. Perhaps, the SEDS International Conference 2007 hosted by VIT University was the time that SEDS in India stepped up and did what several people still reminiscense as a wonderful conference.

    There, for perhaps the first time, we brought to India, the Moon Rover Design Competition and water rocket competitions. It was a great joy for us to the wonderful turnout that we had and the grand success that the event was.

    The event also got us attention to what SEDS was and as to the projects and events that we had done. At this point, we discovered that having a big successful chapter can also work in another way, to make new chapters worry about their success or failiure. In 2007, we began efforts to streamline the organisation, get it registered and to begin expanding to younger chapters.

    Several innovative solutions were brought to the table by the founding Executive Committee members (Anmol Sharma, Snehal Deshpande, Krishna Mohanty, Ashish Aggrawal being the chief among them) and several others who worked with and under us during the period. We developed solutions that would I think help us in the future as the organisation grows and spreads across India.

    An organisation that started with a dream has now got some very practical implementations for the way we work – the activities that we choose to do and the implementation of our projects. We hope we can continuously improve and be more effective than we have been.

    In 2009, Snehal Deshpande and Krishna Mohanty and others at the chapter in VITU, worked hard to bring to fruition the SEDS India National Conference (SINC 2009). Here too we brought the cansat competition for the first time in India, got all the small satellite developers from across India at a venue (thanks to ISRO  and specially, Dr. Raghava Murthy for this), math modelling etc. We hope to do much better in 2010. There are many projects already planned and several that we are still brainstorming. For the new chapters, I hope this is a great opportunity and for VIT, perhaps a caution that we have only covered a small distance in the vast ocean.

    To conclude, I would like to thank several people who have helped me in starting and getting SEDS up on its feet – Kirk Kittell, Pranav Aggrawal and Abhishek Ray. There have also been people that each of these individuals including me reached out to – brothers, friends, professors etc who have advised us and kept us going. I also hope that the future members of SEDS remember all these people who helped set up the organisation and worked hard to contribute to what it has become today.

    Thanks for being a part of this journey and I hope that while I hand over this mantle to the next generation they will take SEDS to great heights and perhaps one day even to another planet or even another star :).

  • Posting in the 100 Hours of Astronomy Blog

    I was asked by Mr. Manoj Pai (Secretary, CIAA) to make a blog contribution to the 100 Hours of Astronomy blog from India. I put up my first posting today. Do read it and let me know what you think. 

    I was thinking of a better title but didn’t get there. Enjoy it!

  • Spending the 100 Hours in India

    This blog post was first posted in the 100 Hours of Astronomy Blog. The content was recovered using Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. I have posted the content here for purposes of keeping record.

    This is my first blog post here. I am Pradeep Mohandas, an amateur astronomer from India and also a member of SEDS. The International Year of Astronomy got me back to focus on my amateur astronomy work which was languishing because of several other space related activities that I was participating in and I’m always thankful for that. For my first post, I thought I should talk about the activities happening as part of 100 Hours of Astronomy in India.

    Most amateur astronomers in India were excited by the idea of an International Year for Astronomy when the International Astronomical Union presented this idea in 2003. When it was passed by the United Nations and became an event with support from the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the excitement grew. Word spread immediately online – through the several mailing lists, newsletters, astronomy clubs initially. In the run up to IYA, prominent Indian newspapers (both English and regional language newspapers) carried extensive articles and spread the word among the non-astronomy community and I’m sure it reminded many people of their own brief stint with astronomy and perhaps even got some to try it out again.Towards the end of 2008 and early 2009, word spread faster through the net, via mailing lists, more press notes (especially from the Indian National Point of Contact – IUCAA) and groups like Astronomers without Borders and Sidewalk Astronomy.

    Even before the recent Chandrayaan launch, India has several crazy amateur astronomers who are very dedicated to astronomy. When I looked at online groups around my home in Mumbai in 2004, I found not one but several, who travelled to the outskirts of this city (40-60 Kms) to watch the night skies and follow their passions as amateurs. There were still smaller groups who went on their own, some looked from their building tops and from the online discussions in the groups I have been on, I think this is just scratching the surface when it comes to India. The timing of the 100 Hours is slightly unfortunate here in India, as it comes bang in the middle of exam season (yes, it is a season here), when students hardly venture out or are allowed to venture out of home in the constant desire for grades. But, still at the time of writing there were 29 events registered in India. This is likely to increase keeping in mind that Indians love to do things like registeration etc. at the last minute.

    Still, even with 29 events, another thing to look at is turn out. This is expected to be very high and our events are often described by various people as HUGE. I think we can wait for the reports at the end of the 100 Hours for more.

    Also, innovation is in the soul of the typical Indian amateur astronomer. This is more or less reflected in the events planned out for 100 Hours here in India. A group of amateurs from the state of Gujarat plan to celebrate “Sun Day” at the Modhera Sun Temple, a 11th century heritage site, popular with tourists. The amateurs here are also being supported by the Tourism Department of Gujarat. This is one of the few Sun Temples found here in India, the famous one being at Konark in Orissa.

    Another event is planned at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, a 17th century Indian observatory. They will also project the webcast from the 80 observatories here. Another group will be doing a 100 Hours of Astronomy Van halting at various venues. At each halt they will put banners and posters on astronomy, put up a scope and show celestial objects, while playing famous movie songs on astronomy, moon and the stars. They also offer the songs as ringtones! The group also putting up exhibits of space crafts and astronomical philately.

    Many groups are also visiting the village panchayats and government schools to show villagers celestial objects through a scope, that they have never seen before. We could have done with more activities in public institutions like Planetariums and Observatories but the reported 7000 astronomy clubs are taking up the slack.  I hope you enjoyed this sampling of events from India. Best of luck with your own 10 Hours of Astronomy event!

    (Thanks to Mr. Manoj Pai, Secretary, CIAA for the details)

  • Next-up in Astronomy: Messier Marathon 2009

    Among other things, the astronomy spiral is up and running again. I hope to participate in the Messier Marathon from March 26 – 28, 2009. I have the basics requirements for the Marathon ready and have prepared myself with knowledge updates. It was fun.

    Now, I am looking for an amateur astronomer who can lend a telescope and help me get to watch as many of the Messier and Solar System Objects that I can in one night. Will definitely keep everyone updated on the happenings.

  • Messier Marathon 2009

    Every year towards the end of March, amateur astronomers around the world participate in what is known as the Messier Marathon. The idea is to watch and catalog the maximum number of Messier Catalog objects in one night as possible. 

    Hartmut Frommert and Christine Kronberg have been maintaining the SEDS Messier Marathon pages. [Disclaimer: I am the founder and President for SEDS in India]. The Marathon can be called one of the few astronomy related sports and from all the reports that you read on the astronomy mailing lists you can only fathom the joy that you get from doing this Marathon with a difference.

    Now a days, people have also been adding to the mix, the spotting of Planets of the Solar System on the same night. This is said to have a challenging effect on the contestants involved. This year, I hope to make a first attempt at the Marathon. I hope you do too.

    Here are some SEDS resources to help you and wishing you good luck for the Marathon!

    1. Messier Marathon Homepage
    2. Messier Marathon Results page [you can also contribute your results here – veteran or amateur]
    3. Messier Catalog
    4. Messier Blog

    This post has been posted after a kick from a recent Messier blog posting.

  • ISRO/ASI Conference on Low Cost Planetary Missions Conference

    The 8th Low Cost Planetary Missions Conference (LCPM8) will be held in Goa, India between August 31, 2009 and September 4, 2009.The Conference is held by the Astronautical Society of India (ASI) with the support of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on behalf of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA).

    The programme of the conference includes: 

    1. Low Cost Planetary Missions: Science, Perspective and Challenges
    2. National and Joint International Programmes in Planetary Exploration
    3. Reduction and optimisation of the cost of Planetary Missions
    4. Recent Low Cost Planetary Missions
    5. New Results and Discoveries in the field of Planetary Exploration
    6. Low Cost Missions currently in Definition or Development Phase
    7. Science Instruments for Low Cost Missions
    8. Utilisation of existing Mini Satellite buses for Planetary Exploration
    9. Advanced Technologies for Future Low Cost Missions
    10. Advanced Concepts for future Low Cost Solar Exploration missions

    Here is the first announcement of opportunity to participate [PDF] in the conference.

    The contact person for pre-registration is Dr. D Gowrisankar: lcpm2009@isro.gov.in.

    For further details on the conference:

    1. Dr. J N Goswami – director@prl.res.in
    2. Dr. M Y S Prasad – mys@shar.gov.in

    Hope you can enjoy Goa and participate in this conference!