Presenting you

Scientists and Invention

Dr.Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai

1] About2]Education3]Working4]Family5]Mission6]Science center7]IIM Ahmedabad8]Later life equatorial rocket9]Position and Achievements10]Legacy11]Contribution

Index

ISRO Indian Space Research Organization Pride of India

1962: INDIAN NATIONAL COMMITEE FOR SPACE REASEARCH (INCOSPAR).

1962: ISRO WAS FOUNDED

1972: INDIA DEVELOPS ITS OWN DEPARTMENT OF SPACE

1975: ARYABHATA FIRST INDIAN SATELLITE LAUNCHED FROM RUSSIAN SITE.

1980: ROHINI –I FIRST SATELLITE LAUNCHED INTO SPACE

1984: SAYLUT 7 FIRST INDIAN IN SPACE-RAKESH SHARMA

2007: SRE-EXPERIMENTAL SPACE CAPSULE THAT LAUNCHED REMAINED FOR12 DAYS ,RE-ENTERED FOR RESEARCH BEFORE MISSION OCCURS

2008: CARTOSAT-2A IM51 AND 8 FOREIGN NANO SATELLITE LAUNCHED FROM SHRIHARIKOTA

2008: MIP & CHANDRAYAAN-I FIRST AIRCRAFT TO LAUNCH ON MOON

Born 12 AUG 1919 Ahemdabad Bombay presidency,British India. Died 30 December 1971 Halcyon castle, kovalam

in thiruvananthapuram, kerala, India Residence India Nationality Indian Fields Physics Institutions Indian space research organization physical

research laboratory Almamater Gujarat college, university of Cambridge Doctoral Advisor Sir C.V. Raman Known For Indian space programme Indian institute of

management Ahmadabad Notable Awards Padma Bhushan (1966) ,PadmaVibhushan Spouse Mrinalini Sarabhai Children Mallika sarabhai, Karthikeya Sarabhai

about

Vikram Sarabhai was one of the greatest scientists of India. He is considered as “The Father Of The Indian Space Program.”

Apart from being a scientist, he was a rare combination of an innovator, industrialist and visionary. 

Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 at Ahmadabad in an affluent family of progressive industrialists. He was one of eight children of Ambalal and Sarla Devi.

He had his early education in a private school, “Retreat” run by his parents on Montessori lines.

Some of the great men of India such as Gurudev Rabindranath, J. Krishna Murthi, Motilal Nehru, V. S. Shrinivasa Shastri, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Maulana Azad, C. F. Andrews, C. V. Raman et al. used to stay with the Sarabhai family when they visited Ahmadabad. Mahatma Gandhi also once stayed at their house while recovering from an illness. Visits by such great men greatly influenced Vikram Sarabhai. 

Our Vikram Sarabhai

EducationWhen World War II began, he returned home and joined as a research scholar under Sir C. V. Raman at The Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore.After his matriculation, Vikram Sarabhai proceeded to Cambridge for his college education and took the “Tripods Degree” from St. John's College in 1940. His interest in solar physics and cosmic ray led him to set up many observation stations around the country. He built the necessary equipment with which he took measurements at Bangalore, Poona and the Himalayas. He returned to Cambridge in 1945 and completed his Ph.D in 1947.The year 1957-1958 was Indian program for the IGY had been one of the most significant ventures of Sarabhai. It exposed him to the new vistas of space science with the launching in 1957 of Sputnik-I. Subsequently, the Indian National Committee For Space Research was created, of which Vikram Sarabhai became Chairman.With active support from Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, set up the first Rocket Launching

With C. V. Raman and H. J. Bhabha

The Second World War broke out in 1939. Soon after, Vikram returned to India. Right from his boyhood, Vikram had great love for physics. During the forties, the most famous center for scientific research in India was the Indian Institute of science (the Tata Institute) at Bangalore. Its Physics Department was headed by the world-famous scientist, Dr. C. V. Raman. The highest award in science is the Nobel Prize. Dr. C. V. Raman was awarded this prize as early as in 1930. When Sarabhai returned to India, he came down to Bangalore to carry on research under Dr. C. V. Raman. The famous Dr. Homi Jahangir Bhabha was also at the institute by that time; he was engaged in research on Mesons and Cosmic Rays.

WORKING

FAMILYVikram Sarabhai married the classical dancer Mrinalini in 1942. The couple had two children. His daughter Mallika gained prominence as an actress and activist, and his son Kartikeya Sarabhai too became an active person in science.[7] During his lifetime, he practiced Jainism and belonged to the Shrimal Jain community of Ahmedabad

Vikram A Sarabhai Community Science Centre Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre

(VASCSC) established in the 1960s by the eminent space scientist, Vikram A. Sarabhai is working towards popularizing science and mathematics education among students, teachers and the laypublic. Its mandate is to stimulate interest, encourage and expose the principles of science and scientific method and also to improve and find innovative methods of science education.

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), AhmedabadThe decade following independence in 1947 was witness to a surge of innovative ideas to build a fledgling independent nation into a model democratic state committed to growth with equity in the development of its people. The establishment of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) was the outcome of one such innovative initiative.Led by Vikram Sarabhai, Shri. Kasturbhai Lalbhai and proactively supported by the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Jivraj Mehta, a group of enlightened individuals set up IIMA. This group ably wove together a coalition of five actors - the governments at the centre and the state, the local industrialists, the Ford Foundation and the Harvard Business School, in a true spirit of public private partnership to establish the Institute.[13]

Later lifeSarabhai was visiting Thiruvananthapuram to review the SLV (satellite launch vehicle) design, attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Thumba railway station being built to service the newly created Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station.He emphasized the importance of a space programme:

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight.""But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society."

Distinguished PositionsPresident of the Physics section, Indian Science Congress (1962)President of the General Conference of the I.A.E.A., Vienaa (1970)Vice-President, Fourth U.N. Conference on 'Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy' (1971)

Awards & AchievementsFor his visionary work in the field of space science, this scientist was decorated with two of India’s most honorable awards: the *Padma Bhushan (1966) and the *Padma Vibhushan .*Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award(1962)*Posthumous (after-death) (1972)

LegacyThe Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, (VSSC), which is the Indian Space Research Organization's lead facility for launch vehicle development located in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), capital of Kerala state, is named in his memory.Along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists, he played a major role in setting up of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.In 1973, the International Astronomical Union decided that a lunar crater, Bessel A, in the Sea of Serenity will be known as the Sarabhai crater.

Contribution