Vikram Sarabhai

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Vikram Sarabhai (1969)

Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (born August 12, 1919 in Ahmedabad , Gujarat , † December 30, 1971 in Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala ) was an Indian physicist . He is considered the father of the Indian space program and made a decisive contribution to the development of rocket and satellite technology in his country.

Life and accomplishments

Vikram Sarabhai was one of eight children of a rich industrial family from Ahmedabad ( Gujarat ) in western India . After attending a private school set up by his parents for their children, he studied in Cambridge , where he completed a degree in natural sciences in 1939. After the outbreak of World War II , he returned to India to study cosmic rays at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore under Nobel laureate in physics, C. V. Raman . During this time he took his own radiation measurements and a. in Pune and Kashmir . After the war he went back to Cambridge and received his doctorate there in 1947 on cosmic rays in the tropics.

Back in his homeland, Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad . a. was also supported by the Indian Ministry of Atomic Energy. In addition, he was not only active as a scientist, but also as a successful entrepreneur. In 1962 he made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in his native city, which is now also represented in five other Indian cities and is one of the most important business academies in the country. In the same year he became director of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) , which was also created at his suggestion and was commissioned with the development of an Indian space program. In 1969 the Indian space agency ISRO was created . India's first rocket launch site, Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram , was also built under Sarabhai's direction. In 1966 he was also appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Vikram Sarabhai was married to the dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai . On the night of December 29th to 30th, 1971, he died at the age of only 52 after sudden cardiac arrest. He had been in Thiruvananthapuram routinely.

Honors

Vikram Sarabhai received several prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan in 1966 and, posthumously, the Padma Vibhushan in 1972 , the second highest civil order in India. In 1970 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . The Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram today bears Sarabhai in his name. The lunar crater Sarabhai and the asteroid (2987) Sarabhai were named after him.

Web links

Commons : Vikram Sarabhai  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sarabhai. In: Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. International Astronomical Union, accessed July 22, 2014 .
  2. ↑ 2987 Sarabhai (4583 PL). In: JPL Small-Body Database Browser. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, accessed July 22, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Sarabhai, Vikram
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sarabhai, Vikram Ambalal
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian physicist and space pioneer
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Ahmedabad
DATE OF DEATH December 30, 1971
Place of death Thiruvananthapuram