Vikram Sarabhai

Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 at Ahmedabad He had his early education in a private school,Retreat run by his parents on Montessori lines This atmosphere injected into the young boy the seeds of scientific curiosity, ingenuity and creativity With a natural inclination towards physics and mathematics, Vikram Sarabhai did not get into his family business After school and college in Gujarat, he went to England and obtained his tripos at St Johns College in 1939 He returned to India for a while and worked alongside Sir CV Raman in the field of cosmic rays, at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, after which he returned to Cambridge, England for further research in the area and completed his PhD in 1947 He established the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad in 1948, in a few rooms at the MG Science Institute with Professor KK Ramanathan as Director In April 1954, PRL moved into a new building and Dr Sarabhai made it the cradle of the Indian Space Programme At the young age of 28, he was asked to organise and create the ATIRA, the Ahmedabad Textile Industrys Research Association and was its Honorary Director during 194956 He also helped build and direct the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad from 19621965
Sarabhai pioneered Indias space age by expanding the Indian Space Research Organization Indias first satellite Aryabhata launched in 1975, was one of the many projects planned by him Like Bhabha, Sarabhai wanted the practical application of science to reach the common man Thus he saw a golden opportunity to harness space science to the development of the country in the fields of communication, meteorology, remote sensing and education The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) launched in 1975 76, brought education to five million people in 2,400 Indian villages In 1965, he established the Community Science Centre in Ahmedabad with a view to popularise science among children His deep cultural interests led him, along with his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai, to establish Darpana Academy, an institution devoted to performing arts and propagation of ancient culture of India He was the recipient of the Bhatnagar Memorial Award for Physics in 1962, the Padma Bhushan in 1966, and was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan He was the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1966, VicePresident and Chairman of the UN Conference on peaceful uses of outer space in 1968, and President of the 14th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency The International Astronomical Union named a crater in the moon (in the Sea of Serenity) after him, in honour of his contributions to science