Space Resources
I was going through some very old emails from the days of SEDS India and Moon Society, India. This is around 2010. There was a student at the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (with the email id - martdeep@ismu.ac.in that keeps bouncing then and now) who wanted to become a member. We wanted to take his help to understand the data from Chandrayaan-I’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3). There is not much of an email trail but there is a mobile number.
ISM, Dhanbad
This reminded me of ISM itself. The Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad is an interesting place which could be the center of focus soon. ISM Dhanbad has been converted into an IIT, but I hope it maintains some of its character as a mine school. This school will very soon be a very important school for space companies and India’s space programme.
The principles of extraction may or may not differ much from Earth to other celestial bodies. So far we have only picked up rocks that were already on the surface of a celestial body. We have dug some holes on some celestial objects as well, but that was mostly to collect samples.
Evidence
I asked on Twitter/X if anyone at ISM, Dhanbad is working on extracting resources from celestial objects. I have not received a reply.
Anyone at @IITISM_DHANBAD working on mining/resource utilisation of Moon, Mars, or the asteroids?
— Pradeep | പ്രദീപ് (@pradx) April 10, 2024
India Today had reported in 2021 that they had plans to start courses on asteroid mining. There is no update about the same. They do now have a center for seabed mining but no center for asteroid mining.
In Edition 81 of The Takshashila Institution’s High Tech Geopolitics newsletter, Ashwin Prasad, Space Power Analyst, talks about the consensus emerging between the United States and China about resource utilization on the Moon.
In a recent episode of SparX podcast by Mukesh Bansal, Pixxel’s Awais Ahmed speaks about how we will begin by extracting water, before moving on to other things.
Why will this be important?
The consensus emerging between US and China shows how important extraction of space resources is going to be. India is one of the few countries that now has the capability to land on the Moon. But, we also need to build the capability for extracting resources, studying mineral resources, and using those resources on the Moon and back on Earth. ISM, Dhanbad could be the place where we start to learn how to do this and build companies which do this.
NaPoWriMo 2024
April is celebrated in the United States as National Poetry Writing Month. The idea is to write a poem a day. Sumit Shetty shared the sheet below.
NaPoWriMo Prompts for the first half of April 2024 
NaPoWriMo Prompts for the first half of April 2024
I had initially planned to write it on Medium which houses my other works of fiction.
I found an online writing tool shared by Satyajeet Jadhav, a member of Amit Varma’s Clear Writing Community. This tool is called thinkdeli. I liked its writing mode on mobile as well as on the web. I especially liked its focus writing mode. This is where I decided to write poetry in 2024.
List of Poems
I wanted a way to share all the poems with a single url.
- Nobody is free without breaking open
- Late at night scrolling my Twitter feed
- Kitchen table
- I’m Learning So Many Different Ways to be Quiet
- Today I’m angry. Today I’m hopeful.
- Downsides of going vegan
- Instructions for Living a Life. Pay attention.
- Reclaim Saffron. Make Biriyani.
- Zomato is as Zomato does
- Masking
- Matapacos meets the police dog
- Superfood pseudoscience
- Morning Sun by Edward Hopper
- An Apolitical Therapist
- Jackie Shroff’s clip about Anda Curry Patta
- Despair
- Skepticism on a not so holy holiday
- Depression meals
- Self-portrait of David Wojnarowicz
- Little joys of not fitting in
- Sushi’s meant to be shared
- Yahan: this unvisited body
A Trip to Bangalore - March 2024
Last week took me on a journey to Bengaluru, all thanks to a meetup hosted by Bellatrix Aerospace. It was a spontaneous decision made on a Wednesday morning (March 20, 2024), one that I didn’t regret.
The Journey Begins: Pune to Bengaluru
I had to first choose a mode of travel. Air travel wasn’t on my radar this time. I pondered between road and rail, ultimately opting for the road due to the convenient frequency and availability of buses between Pune and Bengaluru. Setting off from Pune on a Saturday evening (March 23, 2024), I embarked on a Karnataka SRTC bus, Ambaari.
The journey was comfortable, with the bus arriving in Bengaluru right on schedule. However, the return trip had a small hiccup—the bus arrived in Pune a good two hours late. The bus itself offered cozy sleeping arrangements, but if you dared to sit up, it was a recipe for a sore back!
A Cozy Stay at goSTOPS
For solo travels, my friend Jatan Mehta had recommended goSTOPS hostel, and I’m glad I took his advice. Located conveniently close to the bus stand at Majestic, their check-in time of 1 pm made it easy for me to drop off my luggage upon arrival.
However, their 10 am check-out clashed with my evening bus schedule. The hostel staff graciously allowed me to use their luggage room, easing my worries.
One small surprise awaited me—a lack of toiletries! I received this piece of news while en route to Bengaluru, prompting a quick stop at a nearby store for essentials.
The hostel itself was cozy, with a comfortable bed and curtains that provided a sense of privacy. Most of my awake hours were spent in the inviting common room, where I found myself in good company with Jatan, who happened to be staying there as well.
The Meetup Experience
The meetup was a highlight, allowing me to meet individuals whose names I’d often come across in my online wanderings. Introducing myself turned out to be a bit of a challenge—I realized I need to work on my elevator pitch!
Engaging discussions about space ensued, and to my surprise, I was presented with opportunities that I wasn’t quite prepared for. Note to self: be ready for unexpected opportunities!
During the event, we had the pleasure of a talk by Gita Aravamudan, who shared insights from her book. I even managed to get my copy signed by her—a cherished treasure. Her husband, R Aravamudan (known as Dan) was the man alongside Kalam in that iconic photo, diligently working on a rocket nose cone.
Insights from Jatan
An enriching part of the trip was spending time with Jatan. He generously shared his insights and tools as a “space writer”, discussing the decisions he made and the tools he uses. He has shared many of these in this blog post.
Exploring Church Street
Sunday and Monday mornings found me strolling along Church Street, soaking in the vibrant atmosphere. I made my way to the entrance of The Takshashila Institution’s offices, though they were closed.
Among the pop-up stores lining the street, I couldn’t resist picking up a few fridge magnets and a couple of notebooks. A visit to Blossom’s and Bookworms had me struggling to resist the temptation of adding more books to my ever-growing collection—a true test of willpower for me.
Where are the Indian private space companies in human spaceflight?
A lot has been happening in Indian Human Spaceflight Programme recently. India announced the names of the first four astronauts who fly to orbit in the Gaganyaan programme. ISRO has revealed plans to build a Bharatiya Antariksh Station, an Indian space station in orbit. There was even talk of landing Indians on the Moon. Given this why are we not seeing more Indian private space companies announce startups that build systems and sub-systems that would help India achieve this dream?
Where are the Indian private space companies at?
Indian private space companies are still building small satellites and launch vehicles. There are a few ISRO vendors who are building things but these are ISRO designs and not their own.
What is the scene at ISRO?
ISRO is now focussed on Gaganyaan, where the focus is to get at the most two Indians into orbit and bring them back safely on Earth. To this end, ISRO has been working on various parts of the problem and will bring them together in three demonstration flights without humans. ISRO has not been funded for anything beyond and they have not proposed for anything beyond Gaganyaan yet to the Government of India for the purposes of receiving funding from the Government. ISRO has actually returned funding to the Government, which means it is not yet using the funding given to it for its various programmes.
Where does that leave Indian private space companies?
This means while there is a lot of play in the media about the future of the human spaceflight programme, there is no funding or design yet to pursue this end. However there is time to be prepared for this future. I think the companies must ask these questions:
- How do we human-rate our systems/sub-systems?
- How do we build redundancy in our systems/sub-systems?
- How can we contribute to the human spaceflight programme with our systems/sub-systems?
- Will making these changes today enhance our product offering today?
The most fundamental road block is the lack of a national space activities bill. The private space companies are now building based on a trust that many of the things that the Government has promised will fructify. This is not a given.
Reflections of a Father: Navigating the world as a father of two
Thejesh said he wished there were more dad bloggers in India and had shared a dad blog post. I want to share a bit about my experience as a father of two. I often feel like I have so much to say, but I’ve struggled with what to share publicly.
These are the posts about my daughter and the one post about my son.
My daughter is six years old, while my son is 14 months old. Many people ask me to compare how my son is now to how my daughter had been when she was 14 months old. I am comparing how I am with my son now to how I was with my daughter when she was 14 months old back in June 2018.
My daughter was away at our native place for the first six months of her life. I had spent very little time with her. The time away frayed my relationship with my wife and daughter. It took a long time to heal these wounds. I am not sure they have healed.
In contrast, I was with my son from the day he was born. My wife did not go away to Kerala for childbirth like she had for our daughter. There is a lingering sense of guilt when I play with my son, knowing I didn’t play as much with my daughter. I try to make up for lost time, but I realize it is not time that I can reclaim.
Reflecting on my actions, however, reveals something interesting. I’ve been more proactive in planning for my daughter’s future than I have been for my son’s. I have opened a savings account, got her a Sukanya Samruddhi account, and got her insurance. I have enrolled her in the best school in the locality. I have been more relaxed with my son in these aspects.
I have tried to overcome my guilt of not spending enough time with my daughter in the present by planning for her future while I have been more present with my son.