An astrophysicist who inspired the younger generation
On April 23, 2018 the renowned astrophysicist Jayant V. Narlikar gave a lecture on 'Searches for Life Outside the Earth' at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre's Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) in Thiruvananthapuram.
He spoke about the possibility of life existing beyond the earth and the challenges in providing experimental evidence for it. On the occasion, he also spoke about one of his experiments using high-altitude balloons that was conducted in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). One of the three types of bacteria detected in that experiment had since been named Bacillus isronensis after the space agency.
'A visionary astrophysicist'
In Kerala, Dr. Narlikar, who passed away in Pune on May 20 aged 86, is remembered as a scientist who inspired countless youngsters in the study of science through his work, lectures and books. In a post on X, former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath remembered him as 'a visionary astrophysicist and distinguished science communicator who inspired my generation through his celebrated works such as The Lighter Side of Gravity and Seven Wonders of the Cosmos.'
Dr. Narlikar visited Kerala on several occasions, attending seminars and conferences where he interacted with school and college students. In 2006, a centre of the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), which he founded in 1988, opened at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), Kochi. Initially known as IUCAA Resource Centre, the name has has since been changed to IUCAA Centre for Astronomy Research and Development (ICARD).
'It was designed as an inter-university extension facility to promote astronomy research. He used to visit the centre, discuss the research programmes and collaborations. He visited Cusat in 2016 and 2017. Before that he used to visit at least once a year,' Titus Mathew, a former coordinator of the Cusat centre who is now Professor Emeritus at Cusat, said.
In 2019, Dr. Narlikar visited Thiruvananthapuram to accept a honorary doctorate in science conferred on him by the University of Kerala.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
After bad weather, liquid oxygen leak stalls Shubhanshu Shukla-piloted Axiom-4 lift-off
CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA): Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla's lift-off to Indian space history will have to wait. As D-Day dawned in India, Elon Musk-owned SpaceX announced that the Axiom-4 launch had been indefinitely deferred, citing a LOX (liquid oxygen) leak in the Falcon-9 rocket that engineers were unable to troubleshoot immediately. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Axiom-4 was to start its journey to the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex-39A at 5.30pm IST on Wednesday. The originally scheduled Tuesday launch was postponed by a day due to adverse weather. "Standing down from tomorrow's Falcon-9 launch of Ax-4 to the International Space Station to allow additional time for SpaceX teams to repair the LOX leak identified during post-static fire booster inspections. Once complete - and pending range availability - we will share a new launch (date)," Space X said in a statement released at 8.45pm Eastern Time Tuesday (6.15am IST, Wednesday). Hours earlier, it had shared a video of Falcon-9 and Dragon at sunrise and said the weather was 85% favourable for lift-off, with teams continuing to monitor highwinds in the ascent corridor. Installing purge to plug leak: SpaceX Hours earlier, it had shared a video of Falcon-9 and Dragon at sunrise and said the weather was 85% favourable for lift-off, with teams continuing to monitor highwinds in the ascent corridor. Isro chairman V Narayanan said, "... Based on the discussion on this topic by the Isro team with the experts of Axiom and SpaceX it has been decided to correct the leak and carry out necessary validation tests before clearing for the launch." TOI had reported on June 10 that SpaceX had unresolved technical snags that were detected during a 10-second pre-static test fire. On Saturday, Dragon and Falcon "went vertical" on the launch pad ahead of a dry rehearsal. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On Sunday (June 8), SpaceX performed the static fire and began analysing data. "We discovered a few things during the static fire that we had to go take a look at. We found a LOX leak that we previously had seen on this booster during its entry on its last mission and discovered that we had not fully repaired the booster during refurbishment, or we actually didn't find a leak and didn't get it corrected," William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX vice-president of build and flight reliability, said late Monday. Stating that teams were trying to fix the issue, he added, "We should get that completed today, and we will have that back in configuration, and we are installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak." SpaceX also identified a thrust vector control issue with engine 5. The affected components have since been replaced. Gerstenmaier stressed the company's continued focus on safety and precision, noting that "space flight is really hard, and we are learning every day".
Deccan Herald
an hour ago
- Deccan Herald
Mysuru's DFRL understands gravity of astronauts' food cravings
Mysuru: The launch of the Axiom-4 mission carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others to the International Space Station (ISS) may have been postponed. .But Mysuru-based Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), under DRDO, has prepared a variety of food items that were to have been carried as part of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have developed an Indian menu for space after years of with scientific instruments and personal mementoes, Shubhanshu would have carried Mysuru-made food to the ISS in the Axiom-4 mission that has now been put off. .SpaceX's Axiom 4 mission postponed again, India's Shubhanshu Shukla's maiden journey to ISS officer Madhukar confirmed to DH that the astronaut was to carry a few Indian foods for the mission, including mango nectar (aam ras), carrot halwa (gajar ka halwa), moong dal halwa and a few rice human spaceflight programme director had disclosed this in a meeting held recently in Bengaluru..'As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Isro and DRDO, we are not allowed to give out more details,' Madhukar said..'We are excited that the food products prepared here will be tasted by astronauts of the ISS mission. It is an effort to make the Indian astronaut's space mission memorable,' he cookies and candies are packed for space trips. NASA's space food systems laboratory produces freeze-dried this time the Indian astronaut will have Indian food on DFRL has developed a range of ready-to-eat and semi-hydrated Indian dishes for the mission, tailored for zero gravity. This includes parathas, vegetable biryani, rice and dal, sambar, rajma, khichdi and food has been designed in such a way that it is lightweight, low-volume and easy-to-consume wholesome food. The astronaut just has to add water to the items and warm it before eating it in tickled Rakesh Sharma's taste buds DFRL was established in Mysuru in 1961 to cater to the needs of the Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, and paramilitary forces. It aims to design light-weight food with a longer shelf life under varied climatic had also prepared and packed food for Rakesh Sharma four decades ago.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Axiom-4 launch: Crew safety paramount, Isro insisted in review meets
CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA): Hours after SpaceX revealed late Monday that it had detected multiple snags in the Falcon-9 rocket that was to launch the Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew aboard the Dragon spacecraft, a series of meetings unfolded Tuesday and in all of them, Isro asserted that crew safety was paramount. Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla is part of the Ax-4 crew and is set to become only the second Indian to go to space. As part of the launch preparation, all nine engines of the first stage were to be tested together. During one of those tests, it was found that a control actuator had a glitch, and during static test fire, a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak was detected. Once this information came out on Monday, Isro was part of a meeting with all the stakeholders, where it strongly articulated its concerns about astronaut safety and wanted detailed discussions before greenlighting the launch. "That Isro team was led by chairman V Narayanan helped, given his experience, especially with cryogenic propulsion systems. After all, he helped build it for India. Isro had requested that all issues with the rocket needed to be 'resolved' before they went ahead with the launch," a source said. When contacted, Narayanan told TOI: "All I can say at this juncture is that for India and Isro, the safety of our astronaut and crew is paramount. Mission partners have decided to correct the leak and carry out necessary validation tests before clearing for the launch." When SpaceX vice-president of build and flight reliability, William Gerstenmaier, first revealed the information about the leak during a mission readiness review late on Monday, the issue was not categorised as something concerning. He said it would be resolved and the rocket would be ready for launch. However, after subsequent meetings between all partners involved in the mission, SpaceX and the other partners decided to scrub the launch, seeking "additional time for teams to repair the LOX leak.
