Tag Archives: ISRO

Playing the devil’s advocate on Starlink

Posted on November 15, 2019 by VM

After SpaceX began to launch its Starlink satellite constellation to facilitate global internet coverage, astronomers began complaining that the satellites are likely to interfere with stargazing schemes, especially those of large, sensitive telescopes. Spaceflight stakeholders also began to worry, especially … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Science | Tagged Challakere science city, Elon Musk, environmentalism, India-based Neutrino Observatory, ISRO, Kulasekarapattinam, low-cost internet, Mauna Kea, mega-constellation, non-rivalry, Outer Space Treaty, satellite constellation, space-based internet, SpaceX, Starlink, Sterlite, Thirty Meter Telescope, Thoothukudi | Comments Off

The virtues and vices of reestablishing contact with Vikram

Posted on October 2, 2019 by VM

There was a PTI report yesterday that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is still trying to reestablish contact with the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan 2 mission. The lander had crashed onto the lunar surface on September 7 instead … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm | Tagged Chandrayaan 1, Chandrayaan 2, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan, Pragyan rover, Shillong, transparency, Vikram lander | Comments Off

The mission that was 110% successful

Posted on September 24, 2019 by VM

Caution: Satire. On October 2, Kailash S., the chairman of the Indian Wonderful Research Organisation (IWRO), announced that the Moonyaan mission had become a 110% success. At an impromptu press conference organised inside the offices of India Day Before Yesterday, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged Chandrayaan 2, Gaganyaan, human spaceflight mission, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan, Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission, Pragyan rover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vikram lander | Comments Off

The alleged politicisation of science

Posted on September 22, 2019 by VM

“Don’t politicise X” has become the defence of choice for a class of scientists and public intellectuals in India whose class and caste privilege utterly blinds them to various inequities in the practice of science – as privilege is wont … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Science | Tagged caste-based discrimination, Chandrayaan 2, gender-based discrimination, ISRO, misogyny, nationalism, Paul Feyerabend, politicisation, politics, privilege, pseudoscience, rationalism, realpolitik, religion, scientism, Tim Hunt | Comments Off

Chandrayaan 2 and the Left

Posted on September 16, 2019 by VM

Since after September 7, when the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan 2 mission failed to touchdown on the lunar surface, many writers and thinkers on the political left have been adopting a stance of the mission I find hard to … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds, Science | Tagged Chandrayaan, Chandrayaan 1, Chandrayaan 2, chandrayaan 2 landing, chandrayaan 2 rover, chandrayaan 2 rover name, chandrayaan 2 update, Chandrayaan-2 news, chandrayan, chandrayan 2, chandrayan 2 landing, ISRO, isro chandrayaan 2 moon landing, isro live, isro moon landing, live chandrayaan 2, Vikram Sarabhai | Comments Off

The fight over ISRO

Posted on September 10, 2019 by VM

My report about ISRO’s ’90-95%’ success claim vis-à-vis Chandrayaan 2 had precisely three kinds of response, split 49%, 49% and 2%. One 49% group went like this: The other 49% went like this: The remainder, which constituted meaningful engagement, was … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Chandrayaan 2, ISRO, jingoism, K Sivan, nationalism, Pragyan rover, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Twitter, Vikram lander | Comments Off

The PM’s Chandrayaan group-hug

Posted on September 7, 2019 by VM

I understand Dutt’s interpretation of the moment in question but with reservations about what it signals for the nation’s many oppressed. For starters, how many people actually gave a damn? A few hundred people – many of them mainstream journalists … Continue reading →

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged Chandrayaan, Chandrayaan 1, Chandrayaan 2, chandrayaan 2 landing, chandrayaan 2 landing live, chandrayaan 2 landing time, chandrayaan 2 live, chandrayaan 2 rover, chandrayaan 2 rover name, chandrayaan 2 update, Chandrayaan-2 news, chandrayan, chandrayan 2, chandrayan 2 landing, Dehradun, ISRO, isro chandrayaan 2 moon landing, isro live, isro moon landing, Kalpana Chawla, live chandrayaan 2, NASA, nasa full form, Shillong, Vikram lander | Comments Off

Moon, mission and Modi

Posted on September 7, 2019 by VM

Should Prime Minister Narendra Modi not have been in the control room during the autonomous descent phase of Chandrayaan 2? Did his presence exert unnecessary pressure on the ISRO scientists? I don’t know if the pressure was unnecessary. Irrespective of … Continue reading →

Review: ‘Mission Mangal’ (2019)

Posted on August 17, 2019 by VM

This review assumes Tanul Thakur’s review as a preamble. There’s the argument that ISRO isn’t doing much by way of public outreach and trust in the media is at a low, and for many people – more than the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Scicomm | Tagged Akshay Kumar, Bollywood, Chandrayaan 2, frugal engineering, frugal innovation, GSLV Mk-III, Hinduism, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Make in India, Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission, Mission Mangal, NASA, nationalism, PSLV, science communication, Vidya Balan | Comments Off

Discovering Vikram Sarabhai

Posted on August 11, 2019 by VM

I just read through a collection of Vikram Sarabhai’s important speeches and papers compiled by members of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, to pick a suitable portion to excerpt on the occasion of Sarabhai’s birth centenary tomorrow. There was … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged birth centenary, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, IIT Madras, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Jawaharlal Nehru, Physical Research Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai | Comments Off