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Review of Book of – India’s Forgotten Rocket Pioneer

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A review of my book “India’s Forgotten Rocket Pioneer” in the October 2020 edition of Spaceflight – the monthly journal of the British Interplanetary Society. A copy of the short review below.
Based in London, the BIS is the oldest independent space advocacy organisation in the World. It was founded in Liverpool in 1933. It is entirely a membership based organisation with many events organised annually. Former members include Patrick Moore, George Bernard Shaw and Arthur C Clarke. The Journal is subscription only – learn more and join the BIS here

Not forgotten

A new breed of space historian has emerged in the last decade giving voice to forgotten lives every bit the equal of those fortune determined would become famous and lead the race into orbit and beyond. And the world of astronautics is the better for it. Other lives matter. This book from a leading space historian is a very welcome addition and brings a reminder of how much we have been missing from the chronicle of global achievements in rocketry and space exploration. For too long we have focused on the big names such as Tsiolkovsky, Oberth, Goddard, von Braun and Korolev. This book helps to restore the balance through the story of a minor player, a life worth recording because it tells the story of a man obsessed with future possibilities, and that should resonate well with readers of this magazine. It is the story of Stephen Smith, a big name in the world of philately but not well-known at all for his achievements in astronautics.

Stephen Smith caught the attention of this author during his research into his magnum opus on India’s Space programme, its origins, development and evolution, and inspired Gubir Singh to research more deeply into the life of this Anglo Indian. A man whose work was lost in the chaos that attached itself to India’s independence in the 1940s and the turmoil caused by political upheaval. It is a terribly sad reflection on the shifting winds of fortune that Smith’s work was overwhelmed by those seismic national forces.

For a decade from the mid-1930s, Smith worked alone in Calcutta conducting experiments with rockets and their potential for practical application. Combining his great interests in stamps and the mail service, he developed the idea of using rockets to deliver mail and in this aspiration joined other pioneers in other countries, such as Schmeidl in Austria, Zucker in Germany and Pendray in the United States. As Singh notes in this fascinating account of Smith’s life, the world was changing and the advancement of civil aviation and associated technical capabilities had, by the end of the 1930s, made rocket mail redundant.

Denied the opportunities and the support for his rocketry by the travails of wrenching India from the grip of Empire, Stephen Smith’s life passed into obscurity. This book is all the more rewarding because it puts light to the life of a pioneer whose work was denied the publicity it deserved by politics, war and the exhausting liberation of a continent from foreign ownership. This a must- read book. Available at an exceptionally low price, fully illustrated and with a pleasing, period design, I cannot recommend it too highly.

Book Review: ISRO: A Personal History

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Title: ISRO: A Personal History
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Author: R. Aravamudan with Gita Aravamudan

A delightful personal account of India’s space program from the very beginning. With personal memories from an era that otherwise would be lost. This is an important historical record of events that will in a few years be lost entirely in living memory. It is a non-technical account written by an engineer. The co-author Gita Aravamudan’s, experience in journalism is no doubt a key factor in the succinct and easy to read the narrative style.

As expected it is the personal anecdotes that really make this a fascinating reading. The reference to “chase a chimaera” wonderfully captures the extraordinary goal Sarabhai had set for India of 1962. Aravamudan’s personal accounts of meetings and working with Sarabhai, Bhabha and Kalam. While at NASA Wallops, his meeting the engineers from Pakistan captures a unique moment when the two neighbours’ space programs were at a stage of capability.

Visits by the Dalia Lama, J.R.D Tata, confrontation with local fishermen and union disputes paint a richer picture of Thumba than I had not come across before. The first-hand account of travelling to Australia to purchase a fully functioning telemetry station has surprising twists and turns. The public display of a moon rock at Sriharikota caught the imagination of the local population who turned up in unexpectedly large numbers to view it.

During his time as a director at Sriharikota, he describes the administrative burden of managing the town-like scale of the centre. As the director, he was responsible for the operations of a school, hospital, shopping centre, mosque and a temple in addition to managing the space missions. The authors remain apolitical and consistent with similar books by former ISRO employees. Naturally, the author is proud of his contribution and occasionally exaggerating ISRO’s achievement (i.e. ISRO being the first agency withMars Orbiter Mission to succeed with orbiting Mars on the first attempt). I would have liked to have seen more about the exchanges between the Indian and Pakistani engineers when the met at Wallops.

Historians of the future will be indebted to Aravamudan and his wife for chronicling a unique episode in India’s journey as a space power.

 

Book Review : Space India 2.0

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Title: Space India 2.0

Publisher:  Observer Research Foundation

Author: Edited by Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan and Narayan Prasad

Free download from http://www.orfonline.org/research/space-india-2-0-commerce-policy-security-and-governance-perspectives/

If you are looking for a single source of current state of play with the Indian space programme from a diverse collection of writers from in and outside India – this is it.

This book is a collection of 26 chapters written by authors with expertise and first-hand experience covering a broad range of topics. The book is divided into to five themes on Space Commerce, Policy, Security, International collaboration and concludes with Sustainability & Governance. The authors include former ISRO director, academics, scientists, researchers, legal experts and some from the growing community of space start-ups.

Authors come from USA, Australia, Japan, France and Russia give a unique international perspective on the policy and evolution of the space activities in India. Each chapter is written as a standalone piece and whilst there is some repetition the varied writing styles is quite refreshing. Between them the contributors discuss the increasing commercialisation of ISRO’s operations, the growth of space start-ups, India’s new ground-based assets to aid space debris monitoring, opportunities for India-Australia collaboration, the remarkable growth of internet users in India and increasing reliance on digital services for the benefits of all of India’s 1.2 billion population.

The space security section deals with some of the most fraught and testing topics that rely on space assets. In his chapter, Ajey Lile describes India’s conventional military assets with a surprising degree of quantitative data. For example, the Indian army has 1,300,000 active personnel, 6,464 tanks and 290 self-propelled guns. This level of detail a decade ago would probably have been seen as a security breach. As a retired wing commander, Lile is likely to have the authoritative sources for this data and clearance to put this information in the public domain.  Lile highlights a mismatch between India’s space strategy, its current space assets and the political indecision on how space should be used for national defence. Similarly, in her paper, Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan addresses the changing geopolitical landscape around the potential military use of space.  She points to the absence of political and financial commitment from the Indian government which does not bode well for India’s national security in the long-term.

Kumar Abhijeet emphasises India’s need for domestic space legislation to support not only the emerging private space sector but India’s obligation to international treaties such as the Outer Space treaty. In the 1960s there were just two countries with space programs, now there are around 60. International collaboration will be key to ensuring that space around the Earth used by communication, navigation and meteorological satellites is kept free of hostile activities that have marred human history on Earth. In its own way, this compilation from international authors is an example of the collaboration essential for humanity’s eventual use and exploration of space.

This book is an interesting up to date resource with an international perspective. If you want to know all about the Indian space program, this book along with the following four will offer a pretty good wholesome picture

The best part was a bunch of new writers that I had not come across before. I expect to read more of their work in the future.  I will conclude with my usual whing regarding the absence of a back-of-the-book index and a few typos that should have been picked up during proofreading.

Book Review: ISRO’s Earth Observation Cameras

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India’s Journey Towards Excellence In Building Earth Observation Cameras
India’s Journey Towards Excellence In Building Earth Observation Cameras

Title: India’s Journey Towards Excellence In Building Earth Observation Cameras

Publisher:  Notionpress.com

Author: Dr George Joseph

ISBN:  978-93-5206-998-9

As a late joiner to the space club, India’s space program was in “catch-up” mode for most of its early history.  Never the less, original technological innovation did take place. In this book, Dr George Joseph describes how the electro-optical sensors used on-board India’s Earth Observation satellites were designed, built and deployed. He knows because he was at the forefront leading this work during the 1970s and 1980s.

As with any account written by the those who are intimately involved, Dr Joseph brings a level intimate detail and authenticity that is not otherwise available.   His arrival at ISRO in 1973 was timely. He lead the team that built the imaging system (image intensifier and vidicon tube) for India’s first Earth Observation satellite, Bhaskara-1. In the 200 pages, the book traces ISRO’s deployments of new techniques and technology as the Indian Remote Sensing program (IRS) evolved during the 1980s. The quality and quantity of data captured increased as multispectral, stereoscopic, higher specification optics and digital technology was introduced.

ISRO’s history is littered with examples of imaginative solutions to overcome the deficit of resources.  Images of rocket nose cones transported on bikes or a bullock cart with rubber wheels for testing satellite antenna in a non-magnetic environment, have generated iconic images. They represent a lasting public perception of the ingenuity and frugality of the Indian space program. Dr Joseph describes another.  In 1973 when a dark room was not available, a kitchen in a residential apartment was converted in to one along with the solid work surface to an optical bench.

Most of the book is readable for anyone with an interest in this subject. Since,  Dr Joseph is a scientist, some technical terms such as “Modulation Transfer Function” and “scan mirror for off nadir viewing” are present. Although the book traces the evolution of imaging systems which was the author’s primary contribution during the early phase, it covers how those early techniques and technologies continue to support the 2008 Moon mission and the 2013 ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission.

Chapter 10 highlights another of ISRO’s contribution that many, even within India, do not appreciate – international collaboration. The US Landsat series of Earth Observation satellites was the premier supplier of Earth Observation data. During the 1980s, 1990s, and early 200s, problems with Landsat 5, 6 and 7 coincided with the time that ISRO’s EO constellation of  satellites matured. Despite the very different pedigree, ISRO EO data was sought by many nations to fill the gap left by Landsat. Chapter 10 looks at several examples of how data from ISRO’s satellites is used by Australia, Sweden, Italy USA, Brazil and Kuwait to help toward understanding and mitigating against the effects of climate change.

The book is fascinating resource not only detailing the evolution of a key asset of satellite imaging systems but the personal account of how that was achieved. An appendix with 5 sections at the end deals with some of the more technical and specialised areas such as Bhaskara TV Camera Failure Analysis, Supplementary Notes, Space based Electro-Optical Cameras of ISRO, Glossary and Memory Lane.  I found the Supplementary Notes and Memory Lane sections particularly interesting. They contain transcriptions of letters, notes and several B&W images of high quality capturing some of the key events from the time when the author was engaged with his ground breaking work.

This is an interesting read, even if you have no interest in ISRO per se. The description of space based imaging systems, by someone who built them, is sufficient justification for acquiring a copy.  How could the work be improved? This book has one of the better quality of post production that I have seen. Despite this however,  there are some minor typos that do not get in the way of comprehension but are a distraction. Something that copy editing or proofreading should have picked up. The other is my frequent complaint – absence of an index. The book is available on  paperback from Amazon but hardback only from the publisher in India www.notionpress.com. It is incomprehensible that in 2016, an ebook is not ALWAYS made available  at time of publication. A sample of the book, the forward, is available on the author’s personal website.