Today, Google celebrates the 100 birthday of Vikram Ambala Sarabhai, the genius who put India on the space map for being the Father of Indian space program.?
The doodle, created by Mumbai-based artist Pavan Rajurkar is a simple, yet beautiful image of Vikram Sarabhai with a double exposed image of stars and the moon along with a rocket to the right.
Vikram Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 in Ahmedabad, Gujrat, in a family of Industrialists. He pursued his career in science post his matriculation by moving to London and studying at St John's College, University of Cambridge completing his Tripos in Natural sciences which included subjects like Biology, physical sciences and philosophy of science.
After World War II intensified, he returned to the country and joined the Indian Institute of Science where he studied Cosmic Rays under the guidance of Nobel Laureate Sir C.V. Raman
He was the mastermind who sent India's first rocket into space on November 21, 1963 from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea. The rocket was launched using a sodium-vapour chamber.?
Vikram Sarabhai also initiated the creation of India's first satellite -- Aryabhata which was launched using a Russian Cosmodrome in the year 1975.?
Twitter/ISRO
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram is one of the most important centres of ISRO?where designs of satellites and rockets are created and made ready for launch.?
Vikram Sarabhai was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan posthumously in 1972. He passed away on 30 December 1971 at the age of 52.?
It's the vision of Vikram Sarabhai that has resulted in the successful space launches our nation has seen over the past years. Including Chandrayaan-2.?
Chandrayaan-2 is India's second trip to the Moon (Chandrayaan 1 was launched in 2008)? and it will be the first time we put a rover on the lunar surface. If successful, it'll make India the fourth country in history to do so.?
The Vikram lander is expected to put down on September 6 near the Moon's South Pole. After that, the Pragyan rover will put out and operate for 14 Earth days, carrying out experiments and analysis as well as prove once again that there is water on the Moon.