Tag Archives: ISRO
Infinity in 15 kilograms
While space is hard, there are also different kinds of hardness. For example, on April 15, ISRO issued a press release saying it had successfully tested nozzles made of a carbon-carbon composite that would replace those made of Columbium alloy … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged carbon-carbon composite, Columbium alloy, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, ISRO Propulsion Complex, PSLV, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
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A request to ISRO about Chandrayaan 3
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has said its launch window for the Chandrayaan 3 mission is July 12-19. For now, the mission is expected to lift off on July 14 (at 2.35 pm IST). Chandrayaan 3’s mission is the … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Artemis Accords, Chandrayaan 2, Chandrayaan 3, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan, Pragyan rover, S Somanath, Vikram lander
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Something more foolish than completing phase 3 trials in 1.5 months?
That the Union government and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had entered into a more intimate, but not necessarily more beneficial, relationship became evident in 2019 when then ISRO chairman K. Sivan trotted out a series of dubious claims … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Balram Bhargava, Covaxin, Gaganyaan, human spaceflight, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan
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How much of a milestone is AzaadiSAT?
At 9.18 am today, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the first developmental flight of its new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), a three-stage modular launch vehicle designed to carry a payload of up to 500 kg to the … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged AzaadiSAT, Bose hologram, Independence Day, ISRO, NITI Aayog, SpaceKidz India, SSLV
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Review of a review: ‘Rocket Boys’ (2022)
Tanul Thakur has reviewed a series on SonyLIV called Rocket Boys for The Wire. I haven’t watched the show and don’t plan to, for want of time as well as because, reading Thakur’s review, I think I know enough about how the series depicts the … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Culture, Science
Tagged Department of Atomic Energy, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, ISRO, Rocket Boys, scientific superpower, Vikram Sarabhai
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On resource constraints and merit
In the face of complaints about how so few women have been awarded this year’s Swarnajayanti Fellowships in India, some scientists pushed back asking which of the male laureates who had been selected should have been left out instead. This is a … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged Big Science, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Science and Technology, India-based Neutrino Observatory, ISRO, Jadugoda, jugaad, let teachers teach, NASA, particle physics, R&D funding, resource constraint, Sabine Hossenfelder, Sean Carroll, Superconducting Super Collider, Swarnajayanti Fellowships, transparency, Vannevar Bush
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A great discussion on the history of India’s tech.
On February 27, the Bangalore International Centre and Carnegie India hosted a panel discussion around Midnight Machines, the new book by Arun Mohan Sukumar that traces the interplay of technology and politics in independent India (read The Wire Science‘s review … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Science
Tagged appropriate technology, Arun Mohan Sukumar, brain drain, CSIR, Emergency, Five Year Plan, history of science, history of technology, Human Genome Project, Indian Institutes of Technology, ISRO, Jahnavi Phalkey, Jawaharlal Nehru, Midnights Machines, Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, Morarji Desai, Nandan Nilekani, Planning Commission, solar cooker, UIDAI, Vikram Sarabhai
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A meeting with the PSA’s office
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) organised a meeting with science communicators from around India on January 27, in New Delhi. Some of my notes from the meeting are displayed below, published with three caveats. First, my notes … Continue reading
Posted in Scicomm, Science
Tagged Chatham House Rules, Creative Commons, CSIR, Gaganyaan, Government of India, IndiaBioscience, ISRO, NISCAIR, Principal Scientific Adviser, science communication, science journalism
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My country is burning. Why should I work?
A few days ago, I found asking myself the following question: My country is burning, why should I work? I ended up with some (admittedly inchoate) thoughts, delineated below. I’m trying to fight off this abject helplessness I’m feeling and … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Scicomm
Tagged authoritarianism, Citizenship Amendment Act, critical thinking, democracy, fascism, individual responsibility, ISRO, pluralism, protest, science communication
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