With India’s first Moon Impact Probe landing on the moon’s surface Friday, the country has become a major player in the exclusive 21st century space race. “India planted a flag of sorts on the moon today as a probe painted in the national colors of green, white and orange slammed into the lunar landscape,” reports Bloomberg.
“The foil-wrapped Moon Impact Probe photographed the rocky surface and sampled the thin atmosphere during a half-hour freefall, the Indian Space Research Organization said. The device dropped from the larger, unmanned Chandrayaan-1 orbiter, circling some 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon.
“ ‘The space program achieved a unique feat today with the placing of the Indian tricolor on the moon’s surface on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday,’ the agency said, referring to the country’s first prime minister, who died in 1964 (and who is credited with promoting ‘scientific temper’ in modern India).
“Almost 40 years after American Neil Armstrong became the first person on the moon, a growing list of nations plan manned or robotic visits over the next two decades, including the U.S. and China. India’s $78.9 million mission to map the lunar terrain is a step toward landing an unmanned rover by 2012.
“Chandrayaan, which means ‘moon craft,’ is expected to scan the surface from orbit for two years. It’s India’s first unmanned lunar probe, and was launched Oct. 22. (The mission’s chief goal is mapping the surface of the moon, as well as what lies beneath.)
“Chandrayaan is also carrying mapping instruments for the European Space Agency, radiation-measuring equipment for the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and two devices for the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
“One of the NASA devices will look for ice deposits on the lunar poles, and the other will assess the moon’s mineral composition.” More here…
The Reuters reports: “India’s lunar project costs much less compared to Asian rivals China and Japan — in itself an achievement in maximizing results while staying within a tight budget.
“From 1963, when it first started its space programme, to the 2008 lunar mission — India has broken into the elitist club of space giants, dominated mainly by Russia, Europe and America.” More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.