Tag Archives: Chandrayaan 2
Chandrayaan 2 and the Left
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
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The fight over ISRO
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
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The PM’s Chandrayaan group-hug
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
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Moon, mission and Modi
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
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
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Review: ‘Mission Mangal’ (2019)
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
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Why covering ISRO is a pain
The following is a bulleted list of reasons why covering developments on the Indian spaceflight programme can be nerve-wracking. ISRO does not have a media engagement policy that lays out when it will communicate information to journalists and how, so … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged access journalism, Chandrayaan 2, GSLV Mk-III, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Lok Sabha, Tamil cinema
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Firstpost’s selfish journalism
I’m sure you’ve heard of the concept of false balance, which is based on the conviction that there are two sides to every story even when there aren’t or when it’s not clear to anyone what the other side is. … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm
Tagged Chandrayaan 2, Firstpost, helium-3, Indian Space Research Organisation, K Sivan, Moon, pseudoscience, The Wire
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Why are we going to the Moon again?
At 2:51 am on July 15, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch its Chandrayaan 2 mission on board a GSLV Mk III rocket from its spaceport in Sriharikota. The rocket will place its payload, the orbiter, in a … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Aditya L1, Chandrayaan 1, Chandrayaan 2, Gaganyaan, GSLV Mk-III, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Mangalyaan, Mars Orbiter Mission, NASA MAVEN, South Asian satellite, space diplomacy
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Solutions looking for problems
There’s been a glut of ‘science projects’ that seem to be divorced from their non-technical aspects even when the latter are equally, if not more, important – or maybe it is just a case of these problems always having been … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Bharati script, Chandrayaan 2, Chinese Space Station, Elon Musk, Gaganyaan, Hyperloop, IIT Madras, Indian Space Research Organisation, Indian Space Station, International Space Station, space science
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The ‘could’ve, should’ve, would’ve’ of R&D
ISRO’s Moon rover, which will move around the lunar surface come September (if all goes well), will live and and die in a span of 14 days because that’s how long the lithium-ion cells it’s equipped with can survive the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Chandrayaan 2, graphene, graphite, human spaceflight, Indian Space Research Organisation, lithium-ion batteries, lithium-ion cells, R&D, silicene, translational research
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