Google has honoured the father of India’s space program, scientist Vikram Sarabhai, with a doodle on his 100th birth anniversary on Monday. The doodle was created by Mumbai-based artist named Pavan Rajurkar.
Dr. Sarabhai was crucial in convincing the Indian government of the importance of having a space research program after Russia launched Sputnik, because of which the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in the orbit in 1975 from a Russian spaceport.
What is interesting to note is that the lander of India’s second mission to moon, Chandrayan 2, has been named Vikram, after Dr Vikram Sarabhai.
Born in 1919, Sarabhai had founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad in 1947. He is also responsible for establishing the Indian National Committee for Space Research in 1962, which was later renamed the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)