Today is Ganesh Chaturthi and let me start by saying from Pokhran-2 to Chandrayaan 1. These were the two spectacular scientific events which undoubtedly catuplted India into the league of big nations. Infact, I think more than Pokhran-2, it was Chandrayaan-1 which made the world sit up and finally take notice of India, atleast scientifically.
One may rightly wonder why I have chosen this topic on Ganesh Chaturthi day. After the successful nuclear weapons tests on May 11 and 13 1998 at Pokhran, there was a mood of excitement throughout the country and triggering fierce sense of patriotism. It was reflected in a number of ways--cassettes, t-shirts and so on. Infact I recall seeing a guy wearing a Pokhran t-shirt at a bus stop at VT and I approached him and inquired where he had obtained the t-shirt. He said he was a physics prof at Sophia College and it was made by a group of his friends at Navi Mumbai who had supported the n-test. Seeing my interest in the test, he said he could give me one. I was so excited that the first thing I did the next day was to go to the college--a bit nervously of course since it is a girl's college (!) which is just a stone's throw distance from my house--and got the Pokhran t-shirt. I still wear it occasionally.
A few months passed and that year during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations I went around a number of pandals in different parts of Mumbai and found that a few of them were dedicated to the Pokhran n-tests. The organisers said that they were proud that India had displayed its muscle power and strength through the tests. To express their appreciation, they said, they had made the pandals which had been dedicated to the nuclear explosions. At Parel there was even a pandal dedicated to Abdul Kalam. Damn good I said to myself.
Exactly 10 years later on October 22, 2008, which incidentally happens to be my birthday, India launched a mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1. This set off more excitement than the Pokhran tests since according to many, the moon mission had greater scientific value and more academic interest which inspired youngsters to study science and maths. Pokhran was after all an one time affair, but Chandrayaan is on going.
Perhaps, after the second flight to the moon in 2013, there could be more missions as a recent book about Chandrayaan called ``Chandrayaan and Beyond'' has hinted.
But something surprised me. During the last Ganapathy festival in 2009 --the first one after the successful Indian moonshot--- believe it or not there was not a single Ganesh mandal dedicated to the Chandrayaan mission. Why, I wonder. With the help of a Toi colleague, I inquired with the organisers, and they had no answer.
Who can forget that the Chandrayaan-1 launch was preceded by prayers at the Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirupathi.? Special prayers at the famous Kailasanathar temple at Thinugalur in Tamilnadu were also offered for the success of the lunar mission.
So keeping this in view maybe in 2011 some Ganesh mandals in Mumbai--a city which played a part in the lunar flight--could be dedicated to the Chandrayaan mission. Think about it.
----------------------
Again on Chandrayaan-1 Thanks to my good friend Pradeep Mohandas, secy of the India chapter of the Moon Society, I came to know today that data from Nasa's Moon Minerology Mapper (M3) one of the 11 payloads on board Chandrayaan-1, had been put on Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Planetary Data System file.
Among other things it contains a number of images taken by the M3. Some of the images include water being detected at high altitudes (incidentally who discovered it first India MIP or Nasa's M3!!), near side of the moon, craters, building the M3, water around a fresh crater and M3 looking towards the earth. One can also find the optical layout of the M3 imaging spectrometer.
The first part was released on September 9,2010, the second one will be on January 15,2011 and final instalment is scheduled for release on July 15,2011.
The software which has been used is essentially for those who wish to understand the format and content of the M3 archive. Typically, these are individuals who would be software engineers, data analysts and planetary scientists.
ends
No comments:
Post a Comment