Rakesh Sharma on space exploration and technologyBy DTE Staff Last Updated: Friday 26 April 2019
Wing Commander (retired) Rakesh Sharma recently completed 35 years of being the first Indian to have ever set foot in space. He talked to Down To Earth about the exhilarating moment, space exploration, humans as multi-planetary species, ISRO’s plan to send a humanoid to space and weaponisation of space in a four-part series
Earth’s resources not infinite, so space exploration naturalBy Rakesh Sharma Last Updated: Thursday 18 April 2019
Rakesh Sharma with Russia's Yury Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov went to space on the Soyuz T-11. Photo; YoutubeApril 2, 2019 was the 35th anniversary of my journey to space. I can’t forget the excitement and buildup which took place. The training was at an end and there we were in the capsule going through our check list, full of anticipation. We were looking forward to this out-of-this-world experience, which I had trained for.
In the launch sequence, which we had trained for in the centrifuge, the acceleration was extremely high and you kept getting pushed into the seat. The gravitational forces kept building up and suddenly from three, three and a half, we were down to zero gravity. And all this happened in about 500-odd seconds.
That itself was dramatic and then I saw Earth from space, it was a spectacular sight. Everybody was trying to find their countries first. We got to see India, which again was a beautiful sight because our country has got various features — a long coast line, the plains, forests, deserts each with its own colour and texture and finally the Himalayas.
Those eight days in space were humbling because you get to see the scale on which things are and the immense beauty that is out there and it becomes difficult to imagine that all of it was a cosmic accident. I have never seen such beautiful accidents. It was humbling because all of us, including our home planet, are just such a small part of the universe. That puts things into a very sharp perspective.
After I returned my entire life changed. Where ever I went, I was recognised. Time has passed, public memory is relatively short and my own appearance has changed so now I don’t have to hide as much I used to earlier.
About how there is a renewed interest in space exploration, I feel it’s a natural corollary to the human nature of being explorers. Civilisations started out of Africa and spread all over and then we looked at communication devices. We then built ships and we discovered more lands and that’s how we spread. Now, having seen all that there is to see on Earth, it’s natural that we start looking outwards for newer worlds to experience.
We are well on our way of exhausting the limited resources that are available on Earth. Since they are not infinite, the compulsion is to look at an alternate habitation. Also, the human genome doesn’t have a backup if there is a cataclysmic event. Like in an asteroid hit the entire civilisation gets wiped out.
So, these are the factors that are driving space exploration. Earlier, man was a part of an ideological race which was taking place between the then Soviets and Americans. All that proved to the world that both sides were capable of returning with fists full of lunar soil, nothing more, because the technology was well before its time. And that’s why then nobody went back.
But now that we have advanced technologically, and we have reasons too, new opportunities are opening up. The private sector is also taking interest in it, starting from tourism, which is just another business vertical. I think we are at the crossroads of very exciting times.
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As told to Akshit Sangomla)
ISRO has realised Sarabhai’s vision of using space technology to help the common manBy Rakesh Sharma Last Updated: Friday 19 April 2019
Photo: Wikimedia Commons and Vijayendra Pratap Singh/CSEThe delay in formulation of the Gaganyaan Mission is not due to a deficit in conceptualisation. It is a question of prioritisation. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was translating the vision of Vikram Sarabhai into reality and in that sense, the Indian space programme has been a very focused and relevant one for a developing nation, which, to begin with, one would have thought had no business to be in this kind of business.
But having gone there, the focus has been to leverage whatever gains we get through space technology for the common man which ISRO has done spectacularly well. Whether you look at connecting all of India — even the remotest parts; whether you look at satellite technology being leveraged for education, communication, television and telemedicine. So, it has impacted the life of the common man. Remote sensing has helped the economy. ISRO’s focus has been towards these things. And now that that vision has more or less translated successfully, ISRO is moving to the next level.
I am in contact with ISRO regarding Gaganyaan and the next missions. Whenever they need my opinion or expertise, they do call upon me. And whenever there are meetings where go-aheads are given or policies are made, I am there.
ISRO plans to use a humanoid robot to simulate human space travel in the Gaganyaan Mission. In my view, we will most certainly get enough information out of this simulation to do an actual mission with humans.
If you recall, when space exploration first started, there was a monkey which was sent up. Technology has moved ahead. You now have much better instrumentation. So, a humanoid which is bristling with sensors will give you a whole heap of data regarding the environment within the capsule and how it has performed during the entire flight. It is a good method to de- risk your first human launch.
During my time in space, I conducted three types of experiments. One was, of course, earth resources where we photographed the Indian landmass using a multispectral camera which was onboard the Soviet space station. That was one.
Then, there was material sciences. We tried to grow a crystal of silver and germanium. Unfortunately, we had a problem with the furnace which was up there in orbit at that time and on board the Salyut that used to keep malfunctioning. Had that experiment been successful, we could have come back with a sample of a material which would have been as strong as a metal but as transparent as glass.
The last experiment was on biomedicine. The doctors wanted to have a better idea of how human systems like the cardiovascular system and vestibular system perform when subjected to zero gravity.
There have been changes in the way these experiments are conducted now. The database of the earth resources experiment became a template against which when our own IRS satellites could compare when they went up later. The other experiments were in the realm of pure research and would be used as and when required. Perhaps, we will continue with some unfinished or some newer experiment in these or associated domains.
Gaganyaan can add more new knowledge to the experiments that I conducted. Its first focus should be anything which can help people back on Earth. And I guess because India has not brought out a doctrine or published a White Paper or has made its long-term plans known, one doesn’t really know what the end game is going to be like, what we are aspiring for.
Once that is clear, one can work backwards. And then draw the line on those dots as to what India should be doing and what kind of work we need to do first in near earth orbit. Because first, we have got to establish ourselves in the near earth orbit. Be able to get something fruitful out of that environment and perhaps later, but by then, we would have developed the expertise to be an equal partner in collaborative ventures while setting up habitations, initially on the Moon and later on Mars.
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As told to Akshit Sangomla)
If we can change our mindsets, let’s make a heaven here… Why go elsewhere?By Rakesh Sharma Last Updated: Monday 22 April 2019
I think the Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) test should not be viewed through the prism of weaponisation as such. It’s a defensive weapon, meant to protect our assets which are already there. So in that sense, it is not directed.
It isn’t as if we have an orbiting capability to take out targets on the ground. No, we are not in that business. So this is a defensive weapon. We would have been much better off if conflict hadn’t gone to outer space. But, I think it’s only going to become worse if we do not address the core issues.
We must, as a people, as humanity, understand as to why we are in this mess. Our economic model being what it is — the quarter on quarter growth which fuels consumption, which in turn fuels negative environmental impact. If we do not alter those basics, no matter where we go, we are going to do what we have done on Earth. That is protectionism.
Each country which has the capability will want to take advantage of another which does not. Like in Antarctica you have drawn lines and said this is my territory. You go up on the moon first again you will draw the lines. So, if somebody else finds something more valuable it will become the seed of conflict which has moved from Earth to Space. So, we need to fix our basic societal paradigm first.
Of course there are United Nations treaties on the peaceful uses of outer space just as there has been the Paris accord, but then somebody like United States of America President Donald Trump comes along and pulls out of it. So, it all depends on whether the United Nations is going to be a body that can actually make a difference in the future.
I mean, the infrastructure is there. But then what you do if realisation is not there. So the realisation has to come from us. It cannot be imposed. The treaty says whatever you discover in space, belongs to humanity. The treaty says that likewise about the oceans. Beyond your economic zone whatever is there is supposed to be for everybody. But is it?
I mean, your oil companies are going out and you know, causing oil spills where everybody gets hurt as a result of it. I am sorry, but environmental crimes must invite punishment. We haven’t reached there yet. We don’t have the spine to do that. I think the environmental cost of producing must reflect in the price of that product. The realisation that nothing comes for free, that we are a closed loop environment and we need to take care of the only home we will ever have can’t come from outside. You can set up as many bodies as you want, but it has to come from within, from education.
Our mindsets have to change. And magazines such as Down To Earth could help in doing that.
As long as professionals keep going to space, they will try to do the best their profession demands of them. They are not going to be influencers. Yes, all of us astronauts have come back with a certain perspective, but we don’t make a difference to the politics of our individual countries.
Most of us give talks and share our experience. But as to how effective that is, I mean, we are so many billion people on this planet and there are only 500-plus astronauts up till now.
It’s going to take years before space flight becomes like civil aviation, and how many people will go? How will that sway the way they approach and perceive space? It will probably be as effective as poets writing about the Earth — people will look at it as entertainment. It doesn’t alter the mindsets of people.
I think the realisation can only come from within the home, education, school. Let us hope because this society needs to evolve, and how should a society evolve? What are the interventions required for that? Societal and behavioural scientists would probably be better equipped to answer that.
In terms of ethics, there is enough and more examples right here on Earth where we have defaulted on the wrong side of ethics.
This brings me back to living in harmony with nature —the nature over there (Mars) need not be the same as it exists here. So living in harmony is a concept, it’s an outlook.
If our mindsets have not changed, we are unlikely to behave differently. In fact if you remember when the early settlers went to America, it was the gun which spoke. So yeah, ethically that’s how it should be done but will it be done? I don’t know.
It will be done only if mindsets have changed. And if mindsets change, well then let’s make a heaven here itself. Why go elsewhere.
Humans will leave Earth not to explore, but to exploitBy Rakesh Sharma Last Updated: Friday 26 April 2019
Wing Commander (retired) Rakesh Sharma in conversation with Down To Earth. Photo: Srikant ChaudharyPrivate sector enterprises will play a major role in getting this whole endeavour of going to space and it’s good as well as bad. Good because for this activity to scale up inputs from the private sector are required because scaling up is not easy within the public sector. I suspect that, going forward, exploration will still remain in the domain of governments but exploitation of space will probably pass on to the private sector.
Today, space is more of an asset, a resource rather than something we want to know about as explorers. But then you know, this is to be expected. Nobody ever explores just for the sake of tourism. When you explore, you want to know what all you can get out of that place and what are the assets which are hidden, maybe sub-soil, and what are the advantages of the environment and how can you derive benefit from it. So that is a natural corollary to exploration. The exploration, at least in our celestial neighbourhood, is more or less over since Mangalyaan has gone, Chandrayaan has gone.
We have got quite a few probes. There is a probe or two which has gone out of solar system. So we have pretty much mapped the territory where we would in the future like to operate. So now that that’s done, the time has now come to move out. But I think the more significant event which we are going to be seeing is that for the first time human civilisation is going to relocate. A part of it at least. Because this time we are going not to explore, we are going to exploit. We are going not to visit, we are going to inhabit. Because to realise the aims of exploitation, you have got to live there. You cannot commute. The distances are so much that you cannot do a Monday to Friday kind of a thing. It’s expensive.
Also, humans, in the far future, really don’t have to be a multi-planetary species. You can’t keep escaping places which are your natural habitat. The very idea of getting technologically advanced and not realising what’s your home planet that sustains life, makes you continue to destroy it. Having plundered it and destroyed it, we move off somewhere else and cause the same kind of mayhem in a different place. This is so regressive. So it doesn’t have to be like that.
Earth is the cradle of our civilisation but by all means go out. But that doesn’t mean you don’t respect and you don't live with the environment. I think we need to focus as much as much if not more in saving the environment and what we have because it is sustaining life. Instead, we are going to go to a place which is barren and we are going to face humongous technological challenges to replicate the kind of environment which is going to sustain life over there. And once you do start exploiting that place, you are going to leave it in a worse state than when you had occupied it. Unless you change the way you live, unless we realise that we have to live with the environment, we won’t understand that the environment is not for plundering. It is there to sustain life.
If given a choice between Moon and Mars about where humans should settle first, I will choose the Moon because that’s where we will need to cut our teeth. That’s where we will need to go. It would be a kind of a proof of concept. It’s closer, it’s approachable, we have been there before, we have got pretty good knowledge of what the moon is all about. There is evidence that there is water there. So it’s a lot more welcoming than Mars as presently.
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As told to Akshit Sangomla)
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/science-technology/if-we-can-change-our-mindsets-let-s-make-a-heaven-here-why-go-elsewhere--64104
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