You are here: Home>Collections>Spacex
(Page 2 of 2)

India nowhere near sending a human to space, China much ahead: NASA geologist Amitabha Ghosh

Rituparna Chatterjee, ET Bureau Aug 13, 2012, 12.43AM IST

India is at a very interesting crossroads in space. Space is bipartisan. Everybody supports it, the BJP, the Congress, the public. Nobody is opposed to it. Chandrayaan was almost a matter of national pride. It's similar to the US space scene in the 1960s and the 1970s. ISRO's budget too has gone by almost seven times in the last few decades. And India has the public and political mandate to move ahead. But it does not yet have the technology heritage; this is something it has to build. For instance, it is nowhere near sending a human to space like say, China which is much ahead and has already sent a human to space.

The only caveat is that people in India need to understand that there will be frequent failures and you should be able to move ahead and go on in spite of them. Space -- and especially Mars, which India seems to be planning for -- is after all a risky business and everybody, including NASA have had very public failures.
  Tell us about Indians like yourself at NASA. What impact do they have?

Frankly, nobody relates to nationality when you work at a space station. It's like when the Indian cricket team plays for the World Cup, nobody cares which state you come from. We are not conscious about things like nationality or religion. It doesn't matter whether you are an India or a Russian. All that matters is your engineering prowess.

How have your IIT and Indian background contributed to shaping of your role?

My father was a nuclear physicist and deeply interested in space. Growing up in Kolkata, we spent our Sundays doing science experiments together, then heading to Birla Planetarium, Kolkata and wrapping it up with a Chinese dinner.

As a 10-year-old, I couldn't help marvelling at the stars, the vastness of the universe and in comparison the terrible triviality of human conflict. This early appreciation of science helped frame my interest in space which eventually turned into a career at NASA.

Like at NASA, at IIT Kharagpur, you are with incredibly creative people. It's a great place to explore creativity. It's not so much the academic skills, but the survival skills that you imbibe, which I attribute to my IIT days.