AstrotalkUK

Not for profit website/blog on astronomy, space and my writing

Space and Social Justice

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I listened to this week’s episode on https://theorbitalmechanics.com/ and learnt nothing about orbital mechanics or space. But did walk away with something much more profound. I have listed a few of the points from the episode below but take a listen yourself here.

It was by chance that I bumped into Ben Etherington, David Fourman, Dennis Just and Richard Durdan on the final day of IAC2019 in Washington DC in October last year. All five of us had dinner. A huge bowl of noodle ramen, a memorable first for me. They paid.

Afterwards, we walked back to the Air BnB place and chatted about space, podcasting and of course the IAC itself whilst Dennis started to pack for his early morning return flight. I was already a listener to their podcast before our meeting. I continued to listen and learn from an exquisitely well-produced weekly show.

This week’s episode was entitled Black Lives Matter and probably the most influential of the 263 episodes so far. David could not be present. The episode was a conversation between Ben and Dennis. Some of the points discussed include..

  • Ben declares that he is “conflict-averse”. (Me too but you guys had the balls to put this episode together.)
  • Call to action: Educate yourself. Not good enough to be non-racist. Actively be anti-racist
  • We are being killed (this in a conversation between as they say – two white guys)
  • Don’t let small things slip by. Speak out.
  • Support black-owned businesses.
  • Donate to Black Lives Matter organisations.
  • It’s important to be political.
  • Demilitarise the police. (Three weird, surprising, poignant and shocking words for those of us not in the US.
  • Address root causes of crime rather than attacking people who have been victims of those crimes.
  • History of state terrorism against the black community.
  • This is systemic, historical and going on for a long time because we are good at hiding this from ourselves.
  • This injustice won’t end this year or next year. It is fashionable to talk about this subject now but we need not to stop talking when it does.

Ben referred to a comment that he should keep away from this subject because otherwise “You are going to drive away your audience”. I think you may increase your audience. Even if you do not – this episode demonstrates something more important – the value of doing the right thing. It did not happen in the past. We were not there then but are here now. It’s up to us.

Episode 91 – ISRO and the Spy who was not

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Nambi Narayan

One of the most fascinating and colourful characters associated with the Indian Space Programme is Narayan Nambi.

In 1994, Nambi Narayanan an ISRO aerospace engineer was falsely arrested by the Investigation Beuro on charges of espionage. He was accused of passing on confidential launch vehicle flight test data to foreign nationals. In 1996 he was cleared by the Central Investigations Bureau and India’s Supreme Court found him not guilty in 1998. In 2019 he was presented with India’s third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan.

In 1966 he joined ISRO or INCOSPAR as it was known at that time. With the guidance and support of Vikram Sarabhai, he went to study liquid and cryogenic engine technology at Princeton in 1969. He worked on the early stages of the development of the Vikas liquid engine which now powers two of the four stages of the PSLV.

Some of the topics we discussed include:

  • During the 1960s he visited the Spadadam site near Carlisle. Today it is a Royal Airforce Station but in the 1960s it was the site used by the British Government test rocket engines and to develop Blue Streak – an Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile.
  • In 1974 ISRO concluded a barter arrangement – no money changed hands. India would provide 100 man-years trained engineers. 75% of this time would towards supporting France developing their (then new)  Ariane 1 launcher and 25% would be used by India to develop the Vikas Engine with the technology transfer from France. Indian engineers would also build, test and qualify 100,000 pressure transducers for France.
  • He claims to be the architect of this unique barter arrangement. In addition to being the father and architect of the PSLV.
  • He suspects that the intelligence Beuro picked on him to slow down the Cryogenic engine development and remove him as project director.
  • Speculating on the why the Vikram lander failed to make a soft landing he thinks it may have been related to the automatic landing sequence (software) or an issue with the braking thrusters.
    He is an advocate of an Asian Space Agency lead by India.
    He believes China space programme is not ahead of India’s because India has succeeded with the Mars Orbiter Mission.
    He would like India and China to increase collaboration in space.
    In 2017, he published a book on his experiences and a film based on the book will be released in late 2019.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 47:52 — 67.9MB) | Embed

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Episode 88 – India’s Private Space Sector

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Narayan Prasad

No country has exploited space for social and economic benefits more than India. It has always been a government-run operation, until now.

As in other nations, the private space sector is emerging in India. One name that pops up when discussing private and commercial space in India is Narayanan Prasad. He has been instrumental in forging platforms where all stakeholders from the New Space Community can support each other and share views, opinions and news. The platforms include Whatsapp, Blog, Telegram and a New Space India Podcast.

In this episode, he recalls his journey so far and his part in his own start-up Satsearch.co as its COO. Here are some of the key takeaways from this interview

  • Most private sector players build products designed by ISRO under licence from ISRO. Private Space Sector in India is subject to excessive government bureaucracy preventing engagement from private investigators.
  • An independent regulator is needed. Independent regulator in telecommunication opened up the market for private telephone lines. An independent regulator for the private space sector is essential for this market to flourish.
  • NASA has created the Commercial Lunar Payload Service (CLPS) to engage the private space sector companies. India does not have anything equivalent.
  • This year ISRO established the New Space India Limited (NSIL). It was established to limit the potential impact of the Antrix/Devas case.
  • Policies exist in India for Communication and Remote Sensing but no overall policy for Space – yet. Although a draft Space bill was published in 2017 for comment. That bill drew a distinction between companies that work with ISRO and those outside ISRO.
  • Two of many space startups in India include 
    • Bellatrix Aerospace produces Ion engines for in-orbit spacecraft propulsion. Ion propulsion and reduce the spacecraft weight and extend the operational lifetime by about 60%
    • NoPo technologies are the only producer of Carbon Nanotubes in India. Like Graphene, Carbon Nanotube is an allotrope of Carbon. The unique properties include high tensile strength, electric and thermal conductivities.
  • Satsearch.co – now 3.5 years old based in the Netherlands and managed by a distributed team based in Germany, Netherlands, Italy and England.  Had it been based in India – it may have been subject to restrictions e.g queries coming in from Suparco in Pakistan.
  • As with any new emerging industry – most of the current space startups will cease to exist within 5-7 years from now.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:03 — 68.2MB) | Embed

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Space Museum at BM Birla Science Centre. Hyderabad

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Pranav Sharma
Museum Curator

On 26 July 2019, India’s first public space museum opened its doors in Hyderabad. With support from ISRO, the 9000 sq ft is now devoted to pictures, models and stories about India’s space programme.

Billed as India’s first space museum but that title really goes to the VSSC Space Museum housed in St Mary Magdalene Church, in Thumba. It was the headquarters of was then known as INCOSPAR and became ISRO in 1969. This Church museum is located inside the sprawling Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, an operational ISRO site, so access to it is restricted and must be booked in advance.

The initial 24 exhibits in this new space museum include scale models of Indian Launch vehicles GSLV Mark III, GSLV Mark II and PSLV, Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter spacecraft, APPLE, Aryabhata, Bhaskara, Rohini RS-1 and a model of the International Space Station.  

The exhibits were collected over two years by the curator, Pranav Sharma.  Sharma who is an engineer, a scientist, a TedX speaker and a science communicator has put together an attractive set of exhibits to inform, educate and entertain visitors of all ages about India’s space programme. This rich eclectic collection of exhibits includes lines from William Shakespeare, Dillon Thomas and even lyrics from a Coldplay track.

The new Space Museum inside the Birla Science Centre is open to the public and is first of a series that will be set up around India in the coming years. The museum doe not really have a website, other than this and the Birla Science Centre website does not give any prominence to this new resource. Despite the numerous compelling exhibits, the space museum lacks tactile and interactive exhibits that especially children are so fond of handling and engaging with.

Sharma offers a taste of the experience in this 40-minute youtube video, an online tour of the museum and invites visitors to come and visit in person.

A 40 minute Youtube video tour of the museum