Tag Archives: NASA
JPL layoff isn’t the fall of a civilisation
A historian of science I follow on Twitter recently retweeted this striking comment: While I don’t particularly care for capitalism, the tweet is fair: the behemoth photolithography machine depicted here required advances in a large variety of fields over many … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis
Tagged Artemis Accords, Gaganyaan, Jeff Nosanov, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Sample Return, NASA, NASA Watch
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Making sense of Luna 25
At the outset, let’s hope the unfortunate demise of Russia’s Luna 25 mission to the moon will finally silence the social media brigade that’s been calling it a competitor to India’s Chandrayaan 3 – although I wouldn’t put it past … Continue reading
Posted in Analysis, Scicomm
Tagged Chandrayaan 3, European Space Agency, Exomars, Fobos Grunt, Indian Space Research Organisation, Luna 25, Luna Glob, NASA, Roscosmos
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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 sympathetic science
If you feel the need to respond, please first make sure you have read the post in full. I posted the following tweet a short while ago: With reference to this: Which in turn was with reference to this: But … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds, Science
Tagged human condition, Kiran Bedi, NASA, pseudoscience, science communication, scientism, sympathy
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Poor Sanskrit
‘BJP MP Says Speaking Sanskrit Beats Diabetes, Boosts Nervous System’, The Wire, December 13, 2019: In a debate in the Lok Sabha on December 12 about the Sanskrit University Bill, Ganesh Singh, the BJP MP from Satna, Madhya Pradesh, cited … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged Ganesh Singh, NASA, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, Sanskrit, Sanskrit University Bill, Vedas
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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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Finding trash in the dumpster
Just as there’s no merit in writing a piece that is confused and incomplete, there’s no merit in digging through a dumpster and complaining that there’s trash. However, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt when The Quint publishes something … Continue reading
For space, frugality is a harmful aspiration
Ref: ‘ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission to cost lesser than Hollywood movie Interstellar – here’s how they make it cost-effective’, staff, Moneycontrol, February 20, 2018. ∞ ‘Chandrayaan-2 mission cheaper than Hollywood film Interstellar’, Surendra Singh, Times of India, February 20, 2018. ∞ The following … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Chandrayaan, ESA, frugal engineering, frugal innovation, gravity, hollywood, Indian Space Research Organisation, Interstellar, ISRO, K Sivan, labour costs, Mars Orbiter Mission, Moneycontrol, NASA, NASA MAVEN, public sector undertaking, quality control, Times of India
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