Last updated on July 19th, 2023 at 03:36 pm
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, born on August 12, 1919, was well-known as the founder of ISRO. He was also involved in some major institution-building efforts in India, including the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. The Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad is one of them. In 1962 he established the National Committee for Space Research, which was later renamed the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station was set up in southern India by Vikram Sarabhai. After physicist Homi Bhabha’s death in 1966, Vikram Sarabhai was appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.
Homi Bhabha’s work in nuclear research was then carried forward. Sarabhai was also responsible for the establishment and development of India’s nuclear power plants and laid the foundation for the indigenous development of nuclear technology for defence purposes.
Some Interesting Facts About Vikram Sarabhai:-
– Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India. He was born on 12 August 1919 and died on 30 December 1971.
– In memory of Vikram Sarabhai, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) was named. VSSC is the Indian Space Research Organization’s lead facility for launch vehicle development, located in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital of Kerala state.
– The Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is named after him. This institute was established by Vikram Sarabhai in the 1960s.
– Vikram, after whom the lander on India’s moon mission Chandrayaan-2 was named, was supposed to land near the South Pole of the moon on Sep 20, 2019.
– On 26 July 2019, a Space Museum was dedicated to him at B M Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad. Pranav Sharma curated the museum.
– The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced an award in the name of Vikram Sarabhai on his 100th birthday on 12 August 2019. The Vikram Sarabhai Journalism award in Space Science Technology and Research is given to those journalists who have contributed to the fields of space science, applications, and research.
– Ishwak Singh and Jim Sarbh played the fictionalized lives of Sarabhai and Homi J. Bhabha in the 2022 web series Rocket Boys.
– Google’s Doodle for India on 12 August 2019 commemorated Sarabhai’s 100th birth anniversary. ACK Media and ISRO released a book on 30 September 2020 called Vikram Sarabhai: Pioneering India’s Space Programme. It was released on Amar Chitra Katha’s digital platform, ACK Comics.
– A commemorative Postal Stamp was released by the Indian Postal Department on the anniversary of his death in 1972.
– Padma Bhushan was awarded to Vikram Sarabhai in 1966 and posthumously to Padma Vibhushan in 1972.
