Introduction

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is one of the government organisations respected by the larger Indian public. For a young country like India, having a space programme is significant. The citizens not being against it at large is a cherry on top. But this was not always true. Only recently have space activities and ISRO become known in households. Until 2008, when Chandrayaan 1 was launched, all I remember about ISRO was learning facts about which satellite was launched this month for my general knowledge class in school. It was not inspiring but rather an extra piece of knowledge to be crammed in.

ISRO, on the other hand, has been achieving great heights since its inception by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai in the year 1969. Dr. Sarabhai was a visionary. His imprints are left in a wide variety of industries in India. Space is the biggest one, as recognized by him being the father of the Indian space program. He wanted our space program to help improve the daily lives of common citizens by providing communication, weather updates, etc. This is why ISRO, though not much younger than NASA, never ventured into space exploration until 2008 with Chandrayaan-1.

Mr. Praful Bhavsar is the author of these lines in Dr. Sarabhai’s biography: Vikram Sarabhai: The Man and the Vision. I have always focused on the words ‘encourage young people to go abroad.’ He created an atmosphere for these students to return. ISRO is no longer doing that. As an aerospace student from India, studying in the US, I am always asked if I would work for ISRO, and my answer is no. There are many factors to it. Having explained them many times, I felt it was better to write them out to the community, and I hope it will start the debate to bring change. There have been some debates in the past, but those seemed fueled by emotion rather than rationality.

ISRO has improved in many aspects in the past few years since I thought about writing this article in 2021. The website has readily accessible information on how to join and the various pathways. The social media presence has improved considerably, though it fizzles down from time to time. ISRO recognizes past achievements and celebrates them on social media. There have been considerable improvements in space contests for all students from middle school to undergraduates. ISRO’s collaboration with other space agencies and international conferences has also increased. All these positives make me hopeful for the future at ISRO.

Joining ISRO

Let's start by asking how one can join ISRO. There are multiple options depending on your education level. As an aerospace engineering student, I would only talk about STEM jobs. I am aware of the following pathways to ISRO:

• On-campus placements in IIT, NIT, and IIST

• ICRB Examination

• Vacancies at different centers

• PhD scholars’ live register

• Post-doctoral fellowships at PRL, IIST, etc.

As mentioned on the FAQ page on the ISRO website, ISRO only hires based on requirements. If ISRO requires a combustion engineer to work on solid motors, they will hire for that post. While this is good, the problem arises when they hire without considering the applicant’s background. Especially during campus placements, you could have spent your 4-5 years of bachelor’s building a profile in rocket propulsion design, but then been hired to do mechanical failure analysis. Similarly, the ICRB examination doesn’t consider your background profile either.

I don't know about the vacancies at different centers as advertised on the website, but these seem to be only for technical assistant/scientific assistant posts with a diploma, a BSc., or an equivalent degree. I haven’t looked into this option in depth.

The PhD scholars’ live register, while a good idea at its base, has its own flaws. Scholars are expected to register on the portal and then await the possibility that someday they will be contacted by ISRO for a job. What are you expected to do in the meantime? If someone starts another job and is contacted after 2-3 years, why should they leave their existing job to join ISRO?

Finally, the post-doctoral fellowships are done right. I do not have any major gripes with these opportunities. However, what are these fellows expected to do once the fellowship period ends? I could not find any future career for post-doctoral fellows to join ISRO. These fellows would have the highest experience and should be added to ISRO’s career progression line. This brings us to the next point: career progression.

Career Progression

ISRO’s website clearly states the career progression strategy. Let’s look at the one for the Scientist/Engineer position.

You can only be promoted to a higher post based on years at ISRO. Sure, there are reports and interviews, but you are still constrained by years. A person could work with minimal effort and get promoted after 4/6 years. There is no motivation for a good performance. A friend of mine, who joined ISRO through campus placement, said that 80% of the work is done by 20% of the motivated workforce.

In this current economy, people change jobs within 2-3 years for promotion to a higher salary tier. All my colleagues from IITs are used to this. Young professionals want rewards for their motivation and hard work, not for their loyalty to staying at a company for their entire career. ISRO must start hiring at any tier and change its old career progression model. A professor with years of experience should be able to join at a higher tier, and a motivated scientist with higher performance should be able to be promoted more efficiently.

Language Alienation

Most ISRO centers are located in southern India. There are many good reasons for this, like the vicinity of the coastal region for launch. India’s diversity of languages is vast. Each smaller region within a state speaks a different dialect of various languages. Most of the center's workforce is populated by locals. They would interact in the local language.

While working on my master’s thesis, I visited Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) several times. I realized that I never needed to know the local language while working. Everyone could easily communicate with each other for work. The problem arose during lunch and tea breaks. Everyone seemed to talk to each other in the local languages, and I felt alienated. It felt like I would never be able to get close to my colleagues.

I understand that ISRO is not responsible for this. I don’t think there is a simple solution to such a large, nationwide problem. Hopefully, with more regional centers, everyone in the country will have a possible center at which to work. One reason this alienation is amplified is related to my next concern: secrecy.

Secrecy

ISRO is a public organization run with taxpayers' money. It is also one of the few civil space agencies in the world. I understand space has defense uses, and international concerns always highlight secrecy for important missions. However, ISRO is too secret.

Whenever I visited ISRO, we could not take any of our devices (mobile or laptop) inside. Moreover, the group we visited only had access to the internet on one device. I am primarily a modelling and simulation engineer. While writing any code, I must be referring to forums like Stack Overflow 100s of times daily. No internet access bars me from doing that. This is only one of the many problems that arise with this secrecy.

I do not understand the point behind this level of security. I have visited NASA centers as a foreign national with all my devices on me. Of course, there are limits to when you can take pictures. You are not allowed to enter any building or room without keycard access. Therefore, they maintain a level of security, but ISRO goes beyond what is necessary. It borders on being too restrictive.

Indian Space Ecosystem

While these three points: no interest/resume-based recruitment, slow career progression, and unwarranted secrecy, have made me averse to joining ISRO, there are a few more overall space research and industry ecosystem issues that need to be addressed.

The Indian Space Ecosystem, for a long time, only consisted of ISRO and industries partnered with ISRO. With InSpace and the government push since 2020, now, we have a lot of startups in space technology and education. One key component still missing is research and development at universities and other national labs. Especially in the field of planetary science, universities need to learn from the astrophysics community and build a similar network of labs and research groups. A rich interconnected ecosystem with industry, startups, universities, and national labs is really important for the growth of a healthy individual, as these provide more job opportunities, and they all build on each other.

ISRO, in recent years, has also made advances towards this ecosystem development, along with a push towards start-ups. There are many more conferences in India, such as GLEX and the Indian Space Congress. The RESPOND basket and Research Areas in Space documents are being updated regularly. Hopefully, this means ISRO is serious about research and development with academia, as my experience of working with ISRO in academia during my master’s was not very good.

Improvements

To conclude the article, I do believe ISRO has improved on a lot of fronts in the past few years, but there is so much more room for improvement.

Recruitment

The biggest need of the hour is to change the recruitment structure. The ISRO workforce is already depleting. Programs like NASA’s Pathways and recruitments at higher levels based on experience need to be implemented. While there are now competitions like CANSAT and Rocketry which promote students to learn rocket science, if you are going to recruit based on an exam, they are not going to help.

Be more Open

It is high time now. With the Gaganyaan program and more international collaborations like NISAR and LUPEX, ISRO needs to learn from other organizations and improve outreach. Being a secret organization under the broad brush of ‘security’ is not acceptable. We are one of the few space agencies that have a very rich history. Let’s start to share it. Make more documentaries and content to share historical milestones. Share information for all upcoming missions and those in development. Also, make sure they are well-made with good graphics and rendering. Otherwise, no matter how many certificates you give away for ISRO merchandise, everyone would wear NASA t-shirts only.

Involve the different communities

Planetary Science, Planetary Defense, Astrophyics, Heliophysics, Earth Science, Space Domain Awareness, Space Law, Space Architecture, Space Technology, … the list keeps getting longer. There are so many subfields that all come under the purview of the Indian Space Research Organization. Let’s build these communities. Have regular conferences to share research and ideas while building networks.

ISRO has achieved major milestones despite all these issues creeping into the system. If we can manage to overcome them, India has the potential to take the lead in space science and technology research and development.

Read more

• Why India's R&D Dreams Are Falling Behind: Funding Aside, Here’s A Look Inside The System

• ISRO Can Reach The Moon But Still Can't Afford To Hire From IITs

Pratham: IIT Bombay's First Student Satellite

The first satellite under the program was launched onboard the PSLV C-35 on 26th September 2016. Christened Pratham, which means ‘first’ in Sanskrit, the satellite's payload was to produce data on the total electron count in the atmosphere, used for GPS correction applications. Its beacon signal was received on 28th September and then again in December at our ground station, providing 90% success to the mission. We could never receive a downlink signal which resulted in no payload data.

Idea Behind the Satellite 101 Wiki

Pratham's journey started back in 2007, and it took over eight years for the team to accomplish their dream. In these many years, a lot of students worked on the project. Each of these students gained a lot of experience and knowledge. One of the most critical factors for the team's success was transferring this knowledge down to more recent students.

Post the successful launch of the first satellite, the team realised the importance of preserving the knowledge and the experience for future teams. Simultaneously, many other college teams were approaching the IIT Bombay Student Satellite Project for guidance. Hence Satellite 101 wiki was born.

Making of the Satellite 101 Wiki

To make satellite 101 wiki, the same process was followed as with making the satellite itself. We split the work across various subsystems and hierarchical topics within a particular subsystem. Each team member was given a set of topics that that member was well-versed with. The Project Manager then reviewed each of the Wiki documents.

Once the documents were ready, the focus shifted to the web team responsible for adequately uploading them online in a concise and presentable format. The whole process took over six months to bring satellite 101 wiki in the present form.

In the past year, the team updated the wiki with new pages related to systems engineering.

Uses of the Satellite 101 Wiki

While the wiki serves as a starting point for teams trying to begin their own journeys into satellite building, it can help anyone learn about satellite design and development. The wiki covers topics ranging from technical nitty-gritty to management topics such as recruiting new members in the team.

Special efforts were made to keep the wiki as general as possible. As mentioned on the website, you can expect the following from the satellite 101 wiki:

• A detailed description of the roles and requirements of the subsystems in the satellite

• An amalgamation of the knowledge about various concepts required to build a satellite

• Guidelines on how to get started and how to plan your mission

• A comprehensive description of the various alternative options available at each stage of design, with a comparison of the pros and cons of each option

• Specific experiences of the team and the lessons learnt through these experiences

Impact of the Satellite 101 Wiki

Over the past three years, the wiki has accomplished over 1.5 lac (150k) page views. Many new student teams in India and worldwide have written to the team with feedback that the satellite 101 wiki has helped them.

If you have any suggestions or feedback for the wiki, please let us know in the comments below or you can mail the IIT Bombay Student Satellite Team at pm.satlab.iitb@gmail.com.

I have been fortunate enough to be part of this project which will always be there on the internet helping many individuals and teams start their journeys in satellite and space research.

Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan missions put India's flag on the Moon and around Mars. Both were ISRO's maiden attempts and both were successful. While they started a new chapter in India's space program. Suddenly, ISRO began to be known by the common man. In 2019, Chandrayaan-2 finally established the Indian Space Agency's name in the hearts of 1.3 billion Indians. What followed was that ISRO began to be included in the mainstream media. Bollywood made a movie, a Netflix series Away had a representation of ISRO, and finally, Spotify came out with a Podcast series, Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle.

Born into violence, poverty and the desolation of colonial exploitation, newly independent India was a nation working hard to find its footing. But its head was held high––high as the clouds. The story of India's space programme is such an unlikely one, with so many uncommon characters, filled with such impossible odds, that it can sometimes seem like science fiction rather than science. This is that story.

Official Description: Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle

The Spotify original, Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle, narrates the journey of Indian Space Program. The story starts with the birth of two eminent scientists of India, "Dr Homi Bhabha" and "Dr Vikram Sarabhai". It goes on to recount the rich history of ISRO. The story of cold war enemies coming together of India's first rocket launch. Or how there was a perfect leader to continue ISRO's growth after Sarabhai. As Harsha says, "Serendipity was Indian space programme's best friend and ally during its early years."

Another useful characteristic of this podcast is that it relates the International Space History along with the Indian counterpart.

Theme Music

The theme of the series created by Raghu Dixit with Suraj Gulvady and Madhav Ayachit is so so good. The Indian classical music mixed with tunes of satellite signals and a drum beat to go along, the theme has it all!

The way it has been incorporated within various episodes along with Harsha's narration is truly mesmerizing. We hear the theme twice in an episode. Once, after introduction to the day's topic and later right at the end while credits are rolling. Both times it feels you with joy and pride. You have to listen to the podcast to understand my feelings. Get a feel for it in the trailer for Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle.

Trailer

The trailer opens with the dialogue between two Indians, one in Space and one here on the ground. Indira Gandhi and Rakesh Sharma's iconic conversation about India being 'Saare Jahan Se Acha'. Based on the trailer, it feels the podcast series will end right here, on 4th April 1984, when the first and only Indian was orbiting the planet.

Episodes

The first episode of the series released on 21st August. Since then, every Friday, a new episode of the series is released. Until now, ATS studio has released nine episodes.

1. Saare Jahan Se Acha:

   The episode narrates the story of the birth and childhood of Dr Homi Bhabha and Dr Vikram Sarabhai.

2. Finding Thumba:

   After convincing NASA to support India establish a sounding rocket station, Dr Sarabhai and his team need to find the right location.

3. The Rocket's Red Glare:

   A pool of young scientists including Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, visit NASA to understand Rocket Science.

4. 'Gee Whiz Wonderful Rocket Shot':

   The story of India's first rocket launch - how our scientists and engineers managed the feat against all odds.

5. The 'Other' Space Race:

   The race of getting United Nation's sponsorship for a Sounding Rocket Launching Station near the Magnetic Equator (Pakistan was part of this race).

6. The end of an era:

   After the sudden deaths of Prime Minister Nehru and Dr Bhabha, even Dr Sarabhai departs after starting multiple missions.

7. A new leader arrives, but reluctantly:

   Prime Minister Indira Gandhi invites Prof Satish Dhawan to return from Caltech, USA and lead the child of Dr Sarabhai.

8. Aryabhata:

   The story of India's first satellite.

9. The "idiot box", a good teacher!:

   My favourite mission of ISRO. No, it's not Mangalyaan or Chandrayaan. It is SITE: Satellite Instructional Television Experiment.

10. Computer, put a hold! Don't launch it:

    India's first launch vehicle SLV-3 takes the first flight.

Credits for the Mission ISRO with Harsha Bhogle Series

• Narrated by – Harsha Bhogle

• Producer – Gaurav Vaz

• Research & Interviews – Archana Nathan

• Written by – Archana Nathan & Nupur Pai

• Narrative overview – Sidin Vadukut & Devaiah Bopanna

• Editing – Gaurav Vaz & Supriya Nair

• Transcription – Anushka Mukherjee

• Title Track, Sound Design, Background Score – Raghu Dixit

• Audio Production Assitance – Suraj Gulvady

• Audio Engineering Support & Editing – Madhav Ayachit

• Recorded at Island City Studios, Mumbai by – Supratik Das

The Successor to Chandrayaan 1

Lead up to the big event...

Chandrayaan 2 was the successor to the successful Chandrayaan 1 mission which was instrumental in discovering water on the Moon. While India had already put its flag on the Moon with the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) in the first mission, Vikram Lander was special. It was ISRO's first attempt to soft-land on an extraterrestrial surface. Not only that, but we were also going closest to the lunar south pole as compared to all previous lunar missions. Therefore, it was only right that ISRO publicised the mission.

We had numerous social media posts and a brand new colourful webpage for the mission. Even in terms of public relations, ISRO decided to take up new things. Animation videos were made for the mission. And they were quite good for a change. So good, that watching them even today gives me goosebumps (watch it yourself and experience). They even opened their doors for private press houses to be present during the live screening of landing. Everything was set for a dramatic evening/night.

Chandrayaan 2 Moon Landing Screening

Event planned at IIT Bombay...

At my end, I planned to have screening scheduled with the help of Aerospace Engineering Association and IIT Bombay Student Satellite Program. The then Department General Secretory booked the seminar hall for the screening, and we made a poster to share. We, at the satellite team, booked a classroom for the team to sit together and watch Vikram Landing on the Moon. We were all set to welcome about 50-60 students and 40 students of the team. And then came the day of Moon Landing.

There were hours until the event would start, and we started receiving calls from Alumni and Professors who wanted to come to the screening with their children. This was our first hint, and we decided to book another classroom just in case. At around 11:30, students started to trickle in. By midnight, the seminar hall was full. Within the next few minutes, both the classrooms filled as well. But students and professors kept coming. We arranged for students to sit in aisles and free floor spaces. Enthusiasts were standing at the end and door. To say, we had a full house would be an understatement.

The crowd made a great environment. They would applause during each of the successive phases of landing. It was all going smoothly. The final descent had started, and all the three rooms were absolutely silent with anticipation. And that silence got extended to more than 30 minutes. Suddenly, in the last 10 seconds of the descent, ISRO lost communication with the lander. The live stream was still ongoing, and everyone present remained in their seats awaiting some good news. It was not until the live stream ended, and people started leaving.

It was indeed an out of the world experience to witness a collective expectation of hundreds of people waiting for some news. The tension in the room was no less than Dhoni batting in the final overs trying to win a world cup match. While Vikram Lander failed to land and we never got to hear from the Pragyan rover. They both accomplished something even more prominent (arguably). They brought the whole nation together. 7th September saw social media flooded with appreciative and supportive posts for ISRO and Dr K Sivan. Even Google Trends shows unprecedented growth of ISRO and Chandrayaan 2 searches.

A new era of space science and technology dawned on India. Now, every Indian is awaiting the Gaganyaan, SSLV, Chandrayaan 3 and other exciting ISRO missions. This newfound interest in space science also motivated me towards starting this blog, and now I have come a long way. All thanks to Chandrayaan 2, Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover. Not to forget all my readers. Keep looking for aerospace missions and be proud of the Aerospace Nerd in you!

Sowing Seeds for the Dream of a Space Journey

Origins of a Fascination

Everybody is fascinated by Space. The night sky with twinkling stars, shining moon and the occasional meteor is enough for that. It is only for very few that this fascination turns into an emotion. The catalyst, in my case, was Kalpana Chawla. It happened while reading a chapter in Hindi literature in the third standard. The story of an Indian girl going on to become an astronaut and becoming one with the stars was inspiring.

You remember as a kid, the appeal, of reading encyclopaedias? Everyone had a section that they jumped to first. Space was my favourite one. In 2008, Chandyraan-1 was launched and put into orbit. And I bought my first space book, "Mission Moon: The Story Of Chandrayaan". It was only through the Scholastic flyers which were distributed in school that I got to know about Chandrayaan and the book. Reading about an India mission to the moon made me dream of becoming an Astronaut. Why Astronaut? That was the only career associated with Space known to me :P

Converting the Fascination to Ardour

It may have been imperative that I was lucky to have a school which provided a good education and ample opportunities. In eighth standard another such opportunity presented itself. My first introduction to space trajectory design was at the University of Toronto Space Design Contest (UTSDC). I studied the Hohmann transfer trajectory to Mars and designed a mission to transport cargo and 100 individuals for a Martian settlement. It was at the University of Toronto while exploring the Aerospace department and discussing with CSA scientists that I realised my passion for Aerospace. And I indeed became an Aerospace Nerd. Not only that, but I also made some lifelong friends.

Now, the passion for Aerospace meant to sacrifice two years to study for JEE – the exam to get into the IITs. While I started my preparations, the Indian Space Research Organisation suddenly became outward with its PR policy. The Mars Orbiter Mission was publicised on all social platforms in addition to print media. On 24th September 2013, the Mangalyaan went into orbit around Mars. I remember asking a friend with the biggest smartphone and 2G internet to watch the DD live on YouTube. It became my goal to work for India because now, even the engineers and scientists sitting in the control room were known by the whole world.

Understanding Myself while trying to explore the Space

I achieved a good rank and joined IIT Bombay with only one expectation, 'Become a good aerospace engineer to work in the space industry'. Little did I know I'll get to build a satellite, go to ISRO, work on RLV project and understand myself.

Fate was there with me since the beginning. Was it getting my passport on the day, I got selected for the UTSDC team. Or getting 845 JEE rank, which meant missing on Mechanical and getting to Aerospace. After coming across various technical teams at IIT Bombay, I wanted to join the Mars Rover Team. But the Student Satellite Program had the recruitment first. And as fate had it, I joined the team. I visited ISRO to conduct some tests in the first three months. In the first seven months, Pratham – our first satellite launched into orbit. I presented the team's work at a conference in China at 11 months. Within a year the project gave enough accolades.

While all of these honours were significant, one year within the team, also made me realise the importance of people. I not only learnt how to make a satellite. But how to build and maintain a family. A favourite quote of mine given by a senior, "People leave people, not projects.". Having learnt so much in so less time, I decided to contribute more to the program and became the Project Manager and Systems Engineer of the Team.

The first year: I had learnt the basics of a space mission with Pratham's (first satellite) failure analysis. The second, I learnt the systems engineering with Advitiy's (second satellite) payload study. The third, I understood the importance of human interaction by being a good manager but a lousy leader. And the fourth year, I tried to incorporate all these learnings while making the difficult decision of closing Advitiy and change gears.

The PSLV Stage 4 opportunity came at a critical point in the journey of IITBSSP. We decided to document 2 years of work and stop working on Advitiy. We distributed the team into subgroups working on multiple space systems so we could respond to the changing landscape of opportunities made available to us by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Every person in the team touched my life in some way. The IITBSSP moulded me, taking off the rough ends, highlighting the right spots and giving new confidence. As Ratnesh, a former project manager said, "While we were building Pratham, Pratham built us.".

Building a Niche in Astrodynamics

After a course in Spaceflight Mechanics in my second year, I decided to build expertise in Astrodynamics. I worked with Professor R V Ramanan at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) on evaluating finite-time burn manoeuvre techniques for orbit raising/lowering. Under his guidance, I gained valuable insights on mission planning which later helped me in breaking down of system-level tasks as the systems engineer of the satellite team.

Based on my learnings from the internship, I decided to work on Lambert's problem of orbit determination for my bachelor thesis with Professor Ashok Joshi. It being a self-motivated project, tested my skills of time management and independent study. While both the projects were straightforward, they cemented my decision to pursue a PhD in Astrodynamics. But first came the step to pursue a research project for my master thesis.

Eight years since working on space trajectories for a Mars Mission, I did research as part of my master thesis to develop trajectories for Reusable Launch Vehicle of ISRO. I worked with Prof. Ravi Banavar and Prof. Hemendra Arya to design a strategy for optimal reentry of the launch vehicle. I even presented my work to the ISRO scientists on numerous occasions. After one such meeting, around halfway, we realised the problem was misunderstood. This meant all the work had to be performed again. It was at this time; I realised the importance of patience in research.

Next steps in Journey of an Aerospace Nerd

Now, I will continue my journey at the University of Maryland. Prof. Christine Hartzell has offered me a PhD position at her Planetary Surfaces and Spacecraft Lab. I will be working on modelling interactions between metallic asteroids such as Psyche. I thank all my professors and friends for my journey so far. Especially, my family who has always supported me in this endeavour.

Looking back, I realise that I have been extremely privileged to have been able to be associate with many distinguished faculty and work on actual space missions. I, therefore, plan to come back after completing my PhD from the University of Maryland and contribute to India's Space Industry. My senior and former project manager used to say, "Being part of IIT and IITBSSP is a privilege very few get, now make sure you give back to the society." This blog is also a step towards giving back to India for providing all the opportunities.

IIT Bombay offers a vast majority of choices; From elective or extra (Additional Learning Course ALC) courses to student clubs and activities. There are even actual space projects brewing up in the labs of the otherwise modest buildings. I’ll cover some of these options in this article which I came across in my five years at IIT Bombay. I may have missed something and if you find anything, do revert to get it added.

IIT Bombay Courses for Space Nerds

Multiple courses are spanning various departments which are helpful for a person who is working on some space project. A course may only be dealing with some basic theory which can be extended and applied to your space mission. Therefore, almost all courses have the potential to be extended to space science and technology. Hence, I am covering only such courses which explicitly have a space aspect. I will only mention the topics covered which make the courses relevant for space science and technology. For detailed review refer the DAMP blogs of various departments.

Guidance, Navigation and Control

The following list of courses cover areas of topics such as orbit formation, rocket trajectories and even satellite control. There are several other courses as well within Aerospace, Mechanical and SysCon Department which cover the same topics.

EP 222: Classical Mechanics 1

The course run by the engineering physics department covers basics Newtonian and Lagrangian Mechanics. The topics of two-body problem, three-body problem, orbits and rigid body rotations are covered.

AE 240/ AE 713: Spaceflight Mechanics

Along with the equations of orbit, the course deals with a lot of basics of spaceflight. The mechanics of the journey of spacecraft from lift-off to an earth orbit or an interplanetary orbit is studied. This includes the rocket trajectories for both single-stage and multi-stage rockets along with in-orbit manoeuvring of the spacecraft. The topic of re-entry is also touched in brief detail.

AE 626: Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics and Control

A new addition to the list of Aerospace Electives, the course is true to its name. It gives an insight into the rigid body dynamics followed by the applications of the same towards spacecraft attitude (rotation) control design. The course is introductory.

AE 410/ AE 641: Navigation and Guidance

Navigation and Guidance cover the basic navigation techniques such as Doppler, GPS and the science behind them. In the latter part of the course, missile guidance is taught. Majorly, only the classical guidance laws are covered.

SC 617: Adaptive Control Theory

While I haven’t done this course myself, it is known that some aspects of applications of adaptive control to spacecraft and satellites are covered.

Space Science

Following is a list of courses which are categorised under a broad branch of Space Sciences. There are two significant departments under this category. The IIT Bombay Physics department has world-class facilities and faculty in the field of astronomy and astrophysics. At the same time, the Centre for Studies in Resource Engineering (CSRE) specialises in the field of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems.

PH 426: Astrophysics

The course gives an insight into multiple sub-fields under the umbrella of Astrophysics. If your interest lies in the field of astronomy/astrophysics/cosmology, this course is a good started to cement your interests.

GNR628: Planetary Spectroscopy and Remote Sensing

The course specifically covers the topics of Lunar and Martian remote sensing. As the two planetary terrains are majorly rocky, a lot of geology is also included in the course.

GNR651: Digital Photogrammetry and Cartography

The art of taking digital images of the earth and forming maps out of it is studied in this course. The course also covers a small portion of the orbits of cartography satellites.

GNR607: Principles of Satellite Image Processing | GNR602: Advanced Methods in Satellite Image Processing

Both of these courses cover the topics of image processing of satellite images.

Propulsion

‘Pointy end up, flamey end down’ What constitutes the flamey end? Courses further in the list answer this question. There are courses on Cryogenics and Heat Transfer in the Mechanical department but having not done them; I have refrained from mentioning them.

AE 330/ AE 708: Aerospace Propulsion

The course covers the basic design principles of solid and liquid propulsion engines for rockets.

Technical Clubs

There are many Technical Clubs at IIT Bombay. Some are housed under the Institute Technical Council, while enthusiastic students run some on their own. There is nothing such as membership in these clubs. You just need to show your enthusiasm and attend their activities.

IITB Space Wing

The IIT Bombay Space Wing is a student interest group for discussions related to recent and historic space missions. I founded this group in my final year to sustain the space technology dialogues. Currently, it is a WhatsApp group. You can ping me on Facebook to get added to the group.

Controls and Dynamical Systems Student Reading Club

A recent addition to the clubs at IIT Bombay, this student reading group deals with everything there is to know about Controls and Dynamics. They conduct sessions on control theory and had a session on satellite control as well.

Krittika – The astronomy club of IIT Bombay

The astronomy club is arguably the best technical club I have come across at IIT Bombay. They conduct group discussions, talks and night-sky watching sessions. Apart from this, there are annual trips to the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and Nehru Planetarium. I have been even lucky to be able to visit the Mount Abu Observatory and Udaipur MAST Observatory twice with this club.

HRC- Ham Radio Club

The Ham Radio Club of IIT Bombay was founded in my third year at IIT. A bunch of students from the satellite team started the club to increase the awareness about amateur radio within the institute. The club conducts regular satellite tracking sessions along with talks on various technical topics. Currently, they are posting regular posts on their blog.

Aeromodelling Club

The aeromodelling club while majorly deals with everything flying within the atmosphere; They do conduct sessions on water rockets or spaceflight documentaries from time-to-time.

Technical Teams

IIT Bombay has a total of around ten technical teams working on complex projects which either compete in international competitions or deployed in the real world. The teams are run entirely by the students and conduct recruitments every year to maintain continuity.

IITB Student Satellite Program (IITBSSP)

The satellite team of IIT Bombay is training students in space technology since 2008. They launched their first satellite named Pratham in 2016 and currently working on multiple space technologies which will be tested on the PSLV Stage 4 Orbital Platform (PS4-OP). Majority of my knowledge of space science and technology is the courtesy of this team only.

Mars Rover Team, IIT Bombay

The Mars Rover Team is building a prototype Martian rover capable of extra-terrestrial robotics. They participate in the international University Rover Challenge conducted by the Mars Society.

Professor Labs

Space Technology and Astrophysics Research Lab, IIT Bombay (STAR Lab)

STAR lab is an astrophysics research group the Department of Physics at IIT Bombay. As their webpage states, ‘We use the strong technology resources of IIT Bombay to develop cutting-edge instruments for research. We also use various telescopes around the world to study astrophysical transients, especially the electromagnetic counterparts, to gravitational wave sources.’ This lab is also undertaking Daksha Space Mission. Their webpage explains how prospective students can contact them.

I hope you would have realised that if you get out of your room to explore outside your curriculum, the options at IIT Bombay are vast for satisfying the space nerd in you. If you are still not satisfied, some students worked on their curriculum projects (seminars/ BTPs/ DDPs) on topics related to space. A select from them even go on to do their projects into a space startup. Manastu Space is a key example of the same.

All the best to all the space nerds at IIT Bombay, I hope you have a fulfilling journey at the premier institute. If you guys come across more stuff which can be added to the guide for space nerds at IIT Bombay, do let me know in the comments below.

This article won't point out all the mistakes and inaccuracies but a first cut review of the overall movie with a few unique things I liked. This is my first time reviewing a film, so be considerate. While I doubt anyone can ruin this movie with spoilers, still a disclaimer: SPOILERS AHEAD.

The Story

The Beginning

Tara Shinde (Vidya Balan) starts one of the most important days of her life with her domestic help taking a leave and leaving her to take care of everything at home. We then cut to the GSLV 'Fat Boy' first launch. Tara overrides a warning in the propulsion system resulting in the failure of the rocket. But going with the ISRO leadership tradition the Mission Director Rakesh Dhawan (Akshay Kumar) takes the responsibility. Following an enquiry, Rakesh is shifted to Mars Department, which is a lost cause as considered by the agency. Rakesh is distraught and feels all his life dedicated to space has come to an end.

I have to admit, Bollywood knows how to make the audience involved in the movie. Akshay's Rakesh Dhawan makes us root for him. To add to the tragedy of Rakesh, a scientist from NASA, Ruper Desai (Dalip Tahil) takes over the critical missions. While imagined as the negative, Desai just points out flaws and keeps negating everything Mars Department tasks.

Mars Department

Bollywood adds all the drama right here. Mars department building is a dingy one-storey separate building with no other staff employed currently. Rakesh accepts his fate and has given up on any dreams. Then NASA announces its MAVEN mission on the same day Tara teaches her maid how to cook pooris. And Tara realises PSLV can be used to go to Mars. Basically, 'when all seems lost, Indian Mom comes to the rescue' is the theme of the movie.

Tara first convinces Rakesh and then the ISRO official by employing the same home science technique. They literally cook pooris in the meeting room (happening around rocket engines) to prove their point. Rakesh gives a long patriotic speech employing cricket metaphors which convinces Director of ISRO (Vikram Gokhale). ISRO's director asks Rupert to assign a team to Mars Department. But being an antagonist, Rupert attributes junior scientists.

In the team of 8, only Rakesh and Tara believes in the mission. Then follows a series of speeches (all with cricket metaphors) first to convince Tara (about the team), ISRO officials (again for the budget) and finally a Eureka moment by Tara to convince the team. Finally, the team is all convinced, and they make the dingy Mars building to a high-tech place all by themselves.

The Mission Mangal

With the team and higher authorities both on board, the work on Mars Orbiter Mission. They face a few technical difficulties on the way but nothing which a few home science inspirations can't solve. They use the components from Chandrayaan 2 (as with leftover food reused the next day). Finally, the satellite is designed, manufactured and tested ready to launch all throughout a song.

The launch has a 9-day launch window, but they are unable to launch because of bad weather. Rakesh calls for an Abort on the last day. Once again, all seems to be lost. Suddenly, the weather clears, and they return to launch the mission successfully. Once again, a few technical difficulties are encountered over the journey to Mars. This time a restart of the mission control room and solar radiations comes to the rescue. We finally successfully reach Mars and end credits roll. Mission Mangal acknowledges ISRO scientists at the end, and this gesture surely deserved a special mention in this review.

The Review

Initial Reactions

The movie does manage to impart the patriotic connection to the Indian Space Mission. Akshay's acting has that impact in every Independence Day movie he does. All other actors also perform quite well even for their poorly written characters. The launch sequences for both GSLV and PSLV were quite good, along with the satellite in orbit scenes. The movie did get the VFX right. There were a lot of correct scientific principles as well, which was really surprising for me. Vidya's explanation of gravities and transfer orbit using a yo-yo deserved appreciation.

Lookback

The movie is the first step of Bollywood to Space Genre. For this, they took the base story of the Mars Orbiter Mission and added all the tested techniques for a blockbuster. Multiple problems with Authorities taken care of by a few speeches and team members coming together after a revelation has succeeded many times. They even added a scene where the women's team beat a few goons while the leader watches (Chak De India). All the characters have life problems that get solved by the team coming together.

For the first try, I would like to give it to the Hindi Film Industry to make a film that will inspire many to take up Space Science and Technology and possibly join ISRO. Therefore overall, Mission Mangal deserves a positive review. I hope the film encourages people to learn more. For these interested people, I would be posting another article pointing out all the scientific inaccuracies.

Sun, Moon and Earth dance around our solar system. The synchronised waltz of these celestial bodies is responsible for several astronomy phenomenons. It won't be wrong to say that life, as we know, is possible due to their relative positions. Occasionally, these three come together in a line to perform a particular pose known as the Eclipse. Many amateur photographers line up for such events to click inspiring photographs of the June 2020 Eclipse.

If the Earth is between the Sun and Moon, it is known as the Lunar Eclipse, and if Moon shadows the Sun, we call it Solar Eclipse. The relative positions of the Sun and Moon make us perceive them of same sizes. Sometimes Moon takes over the whole of the Sun, while sometimes it forms a "Ring of Fire". The later is called the Annular Solar Eclipse.

Another phenomenon occurring from Earth's and Sun's waltz is the Solstice. The event when we have almost equal day and night. Two solstices occur every year, Summer Solstice (21st June) and Winter Solstice (21st December).

This year (21st June 2020), saw these two phenomena combine to form one of the rarest events: An Annular Solar Eclipse on the Summer Solstice. The only time this will occur again in this century is in the year 2039. People in Asia and Africa were able to observe the "Ring of Fire".

My Experience Capturing the Eclipse

Living in India allowed me to witness this rarity though the lockdown hindered the plans to journey to the zone of the annular phase of the Eclipse. I planned to use a HandyCam to record the transit of the Moon across the Sun. But the obsolete technology of the HandyCam couldn't focus on the Sun. So, it boiled down to observe the Sun using a few X-rays sheets through a mounted camera's screen.

The images exceeded expectations and were majestic. I hoped to see dimming of natural light and birds getting confused, but we were not that close to the zone of the annular phase of the Eclipse. Nevertheless, here are some photographs which my brother @sikkalicious_pixels and I took together.

Solar Eclipse Photographs by other AeroSpace Nerds

Sikar, Rajasthan

Solar Eclipse Images seen through a Box Projector and Lens Flare of a Mobile Camera.

Solapur, Maharashtra

Photographed using DSLR.

Nagaur, Rajasthan

Solar Eclipse seen as the light trickled through tree leaves forming a natural pin-hole projector.

Nashik, Maharashtra

Using phone camera.

Akola, Maharashtra

If you took any annular solar eclipse photographs, do message me on one of the social media handles.

A lot of speculation on whether any actors will go onboard the space station has exploded on social media. CNN mentioned that a NASA spokesperson confirmed that Tom cruise would launch and stay aboard the International Space Station. With SpaceX's Crew Dragon making its first flight with astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on May 27th, Cruise and his team will likely use the same vehicle for the extra-terrestrial journey.

Is this the future of ISS?

The International Space Station became operational on November 2nd 2000. Originally planned to last up till 2015, the ISS program has been extended twice. In 2011, the life was extended till 2020 and in 2015, till 2024. US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act aimed to increase private use of the space station. In the year 2019, NASA opened the ISS to commercial opportunities in a press event at Nasdaq stock market's MarketSite in New York City.

There have been many discussions on the viability to sustain the multibillion-dollar laboratory in space post-2024. Articles like The Options for the Future of the International Space Station and The future of Internation Space Station pointed out towards decommissioning the station as the best alternative. They discuss how private companies have shown little interest in the activities of the space station.

The future of International Space Station as a commercial spot for non-governmental workers to visit and stay.

Now, with Jim's announcement, the debate can be opened again. A seat onboard Crew Dragon will cost about $50 million each as announce by SpaceX earlier. A NASA directive released last year detailed plans to allow non-government space travellers to pay for the use of ISS. The document priced the use of life-support equipment at $11,250 per day while food, air, and other provisions were priced at $22,500 per day.

The US spends an estimate of $3 to $4 billion to keep the station orbiting. While the above prices don't pay for the whole operations, does a feature film shot in space paves the path for a new future of the International Space Station?

No matter what, I hope the movie starts with Bowie's Space Oddity blasting and Major Tom floating in the Space Station.