Moon Race

It was during the days of cold war between Soviet Union and America after World War-II. Rivalry exists in each and every thing between them. If Soviet sends a space craft, then America will send one on the next year.

Soviet leads the race till America’s Apollo-8’s manned lunar orbit on December 1968. Then on America becomes the front runner in Moon Race.

 The history starts like this…

• Nearly 50 years before on 2^nd January 1959 Soviet Union  made world’s first moon mission LUNA-1. But unfortunately the space craft missed the moon
• On 12^th September 1959 Soviet Union launched a space craft called LUNA-2 which made the first lunar impact.
• Then the race began between two rivalries with objectives to who touches the moon first.
• By the success of various Apollo programs America made successful landing on Moon. Neil Armstrong is the first man who made his foot print on moon’s Surface.
• Totally 12 persons landed on moon then after. This race nearly ends after 1976 when Soviet sends LUNA-24 which brings moon dust back to earth.
• Then it’s started again on 90’s
• During mid of March 1994 America’s Clementine discovered water ice on South Pole and North Pole.
• In 1998 January America’s Lunar Prospector discovered neutrons are reflected from moons surface due to Cosmic rays. Then it’s sure that enriched hydrogen will be available in these areas.
• In 2003 Europe’s Space Agency (ESA) sent SMART-I lunar orbiter.
• In 2007 September 14^th Japan sent a lunar orbiter called Kaguya
• In 2007 October China sent Chang’e-1

 After these many marches towards moon man kind knows some more interesting facts about moon. 

• It was nearly -200 deg Celsius cold on the other side of moon where light doesn’t falls.
• It was nearly 140 deg Celsius hot on the day time on the other side.
• There was no Ozone layer
• It was assumed that ice layer of nearly 50,000 Sq Km in North Pole and nearly 20,000 Sq Km in South Pole can be found. It means nearly 3 million tones of water.
• One kind of nuclear fuel called Helium-3 was discovered on moons surface. 

By these results man started his calculation like this.

• With the aid of water we can convert H2O into H2+O
• Hydrogen can be used to fuel space cars and rockets.
• Oxygen can be used for survival of space walkers.
• By the use of cold condition beneath moon surface we can store oxygen and hydrogen in liquid form.
• In moon the day light will have 200 deg Celsius hot; also one moon day is equal to nearly 13 days. By this with a 10 Sq feet area we can produce nearly 15 KW of electricity.
• By the possibility of Super Conductivity we can transmit High Voltage electrictity by high tension grids. Interesting fact here is there will be no energy leakage and energy loss on moon.
• Helium-3 also called as space fuel which attracts these nations even more than the above. 

In the end of 90’s the whole world suffers due to energy shortage. After Steam, Sunlight and Wind man liked most is Nuclear energy. So far we have technology of nuclear fission. There is another technology called nuclear Fusion, Scientists confirmed this Helium-3 will help for the nuclear fusion.

By burning Helium-3 in super heat we can produce energy which is nearly equal to 5.5 ton of burning Coal completely. In fact if we burn 1 ton of coal we get only one third of its energy. So the energy produced by burning 15 tons of coal is equal to the energy produced by 3gm of Helium-3. May be after 50 years we will produce energy by this method.

This may be the reason behind the moon race which brings Europeans, Chinese and Japanese. And now Great India too joined the race in the name of Chandrayaan-1 on 22^nd October 2008 at 6.22 am.

Now the name of the race was changed as “Helium 3 Run”.

My College

JJCET (J.J. College of Engg and Tech) My Alma matter.

The place which taught me more, than subjects.

Entrance

Front view

Tree on the median...

Entrance-View from inside

Entrance- View from verandah.

Mission to pluto :-)

Fluid Mechanics Lab

Thermal Lab

Indoor Auditorium

Thiru Erumbeeswarar Temple

Erumbeeswarar temple entrance.

Fallen Kingdom-I

Fallen Kingdom-II

Fallen Kingdom-III

Survival of the fittest...

The above photographs were taken at Thiru Erumbeeswarar temple (Malaikovil), Thiruverumbur, Trichy.

My Black horse

Karizma

My BLACK Horse

Shadow of light

The below painting was painted by me during my collage days... Its the one which i consider as my master piece :-)

Many days I tried to paint a new one...

Board is there...

Brush is there...

Paint is there...

Time is there...

But no peace of mind...

Chandrayaan reached 150,000 Km

Our great India's spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 has reached nearly half the distance to the lunar orbit, crossing the 150,000-km mark from the earth on Sunday morning. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed third orbit-raising manoeuvre initiated at 7.08 a.m. Sunday by firing the liquid apogee motor for about nine and a half minutes. With this, Chandrayaan spacecraft has entered a much higher elliptical orbit around the earth.

Chandrayaan countdown to start on Monday, October 20.

Countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan-1, the country's first unmanned moon mission, will start on Monday, a top Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official said. "The countdown will start on Monday early morning," Satish Dhawan Space Centre Associate Director MYS Prasad said.

The spacecraft, which will be launched on October 22, was moved to the launch pad on Friday evening, he said.

"Preparatory activities, including checking of various parameters in payloads, to start the countdown are going on," Prasad said.

He added that all operations are progressing satisfactorily for the launch of the spacecraft on Wednesday at 0620 hrs IST.

"About 42 tonnes of propellant would be filled during the countdown period," Prasad said.

According to the specifications given by officials, the spacecraft carrying 11 payloads (scientific instruments) weighs about 1,380 kg at the time of its launch.

The spacecraft is shaped like a cuboid with a solar panel projecting from one of its sides. The state-of-the-art sub-systems of the spacecraft facilitates safe and efficient functioning of its 11 payloads.

It is powered by a single solar panel generating a maximum power of 700W. A 36 Ampere-Hour (AH) Lithium ion battery supplies power when the solar panel is not illuminated by the sun.

"To make Chandrayaan-1 escape from orbiting the earth and to travel towards the moon, its Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) is used," an official said, adding, "Liquid propellants needed for LAM as well as thrusters are stored onboard the spacecraft."

The craft's dual gimballed antenna will transmit scientific data gathered by its 11 payloads to earth, officials added.

Mission Chandrayaan

The below image represents stages of Mission Chandrayaan.

Source from www.chandrayaan-i.com/images/tech1.jpg

Chandrayaan - India’s first mission to the Moon

The Chandrayaan-1 mission was announced by the Prime Minister AB Vajpayee during his Independence Day address on Aug 15 2003

And now it’s ready to start 52 hour final count down from 4.00 a.m. on October 20

This mission is to know the answers for the below questions

How could earth acquire such a large satellite?

What is the moon’s origin?

What is the moon’s Chemical composition? 

Relatively ISRO said it would spur the Indian scientific community and probe the physical characteristics of the lunar surface in greater depth than previous missions by other nations. It will explore its minerals, map the terrain and find out whether water and helium deposits exist. It will also give us a deeper understanding about the planet Earth itself or its origins, earlier missions did not come out with a full understanding of the moon and that is the reason scientists are still interested. 

It’s the unmanned lunar exploration mission by ISRO (Indian Space Research and Organization). Mission includes a lunar orbiter and an Impactor. The space craft will be launched by enhanced version of PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle). 

PSLV will carry 11 payloads – 5 from India and 6 from abroad. Within 25 seconds of the lift-off from the second launch pad, the two strap-on motors will fire the rocket to place Chandrayaan into a highly elliptical transfer orbit around earth in the next 110 seconds. 
After circling earth in its transfer orbit for a while, the spacecraft will be put into more elliptical orbits by repeatedly firing its liquid apogee motor (LAM) at opportune moments. 
The LAM onboard will be fired again to make the spacecraft travel to the vicinity of moon by following a path called lunar transfer trajectory (LTT), whose apogee - farthest point from earth - is at 387,000 km. 
"The initial operation, crucial for launching and putting the spacecraft into the elliptical transfer orbit, is programmed to last 1,089 seconds or 18.9 minutes. Over the next 18 days, the spacecraft is made to get into an elliptical lunar orbit with the help of moon's gravity and LAM onboard," Prasad pointed out. 
After a detailed observation of the lunar orbit perturbations, the orbital height of Chandrayaan will be finally lowered to its intended 100 km height from the lunar surface. 
"Once the spacecraft stabilizes in its intended orbit, the moon impact probe will be ejected at the earliest opportunity to hit the lunar surface in a chosen area. Cameras and other scientific instruments are turned on and 
tested for the operational phase, which is expected to last for two years.

Toyota's Top Engineer on How to Develop Thinking People

The August 4, 2008 Nikkei Business Online article titled Top Engineer Explains How Toyota Develops People  is an interview with Nanpachi Hayashi, Toyota's top engineer. He was a student of Taiichi Ohno, and much what he talks about sounds like it came out of the pages of Taiichi Ohno's Workplace Management. The importance of making people think and struggle on their own, following up, and going to see are a few of the familiar themes. The following is my selected translation, summary and commentary.
Hayashi began working with Taiichi Ohno in 1970 in developing the Toyota
 Production System. What was it like to work with Mr. Ohno as a boss?
Hayashi: I was really afraid of Mr. Ohno when I was young. But I think he was developing thinking people. He never gave us the answer. When he gave us an assignment, he would just stand by and watch us fail, even if he knew the answer.

Taiichi Ohno would give his subordinates nearly impossible challenges. But from the moment he gave these challenges, Ohno himself would be thinking about the solution, so he followed up. Hayashi says that Ohno always came to see for himself the next day. When the solution was inadequate Ohno would yell "What is this?!" but this helped people recognize where their perspective had been inadequate. According to Hayashi, "Mr. Ohno scolded us after first making us really think and struggle, and this helped us to come to a deeper understanding."
Hayashi says, "Developing people requires physical endurance." Frequent follow up is necessary, in person. It is not acceptable to give an assignment and follow up or scold only after three months, during a progress report meeting. Specific actions and detailed follow up are necessary. Do Toyota and the people within the organization still have this "physical endurance?" Hayashi raises several concerns he has with the current state of people development at Toyota. First, the emphasis on documentation and standardization, although inevitable to raise level across production facilities worldwide. Hayashi makes it clear that he views the current level of global expansion to be excessive, implying that it is not sustainable from the level of detailed-follow up needed to develop thinking people.
Hayashi reflects on how his teacher would follow up on one thing at a time, rather than multiple topics:
When Mr. Ohno came to the gemba he would only give one assignment, and he would always be back to check the next morning. It was scary, but it gave me peace of mind to know that he would be back to check.
This paragraph struck me as particularly impressive, and deserves to be translated in full:
Also, when we are required to deliver results with speed, we only give our subordinates small projects so that even if they fail they have time to recover. In the end, we give them the solution. We must firmly carry on the practice of developing thinking people. Mr. Ohno often said to us, "Don't look with your eyes, look with your feet. Don't think with you head, think with your hands." He also taught us, "People who can't understand numbers are useless. The gemba where numbers are not visible is also bad. However, people who only look at the numbers are the worst of all."

Those are two brilliant new quotes from Taiichi Ohno. Thank you again to Mr. Ohno and Mr. Hayashi for continuing the tradition of teaching us.
On the theme of the importance of follow up, Hayashi answers the question "What is the behavior required from management to develop thinking people?"
Perhaps not every time, but managers need to follow up by "random audit" at least one time in ten. 

He tells the story of a time when Hayashi went to report progress to Mr. Ohno, and Ohno followed up by asking Hayashi, "Did you go see for yourself?" Hayashi responded, "Yes" even though he had not and had only presented a report received from the gemba. Mr. Ohno said, "Let's go to the gemba. Show me the real thing and explain it to me again." From then on Hayashi always checked for himself and only reported to Mr. Ohno what he had personally seen and understood.
Asked how Toyota was coping with rapid international expansion and the need to develop thinking people, Hayashi provided insight:
Toyota does not have a goal. An increasing number of Toyota people from outside of Japan understand this, but this is something hard to get used to. They think that when a target is reached, they deserve a reward.
Hayashi likens it to Goldratt's "Goal" in that it can never be reached.
Another recent development at Toyota that concerns Hayashi is the increase in the number of temporary or contract labor.
They (temporary or contract labor) are increasing because it is not possible to rapidly hire the people needed, but reducing cost by hiring people so we can pay them less money to do the same work is not kaizen.
Hayashi recognizes that there are both people who prefer to work as contractors in several jobs, and those people who are term employees who participate actively in QC circles. The important thing, he says, is to develop shop floor leaders who can bring together such a diverse group.
Compared to the past, has the gemba at Toyota become stronger or weaker? Hayashi says both are true. Toyota people have become better with computer skills, the development of technical skills and formal training. However the mental toughness and determination to do whatever it takes, when there is no people and no money and you just have to work through the night, is missing.
Hayashi is encouraged that very few people at Toyota think they are as good as they can be, and most recognize that a lot remains to be done. With a kaizen mind, ever looking at problems as opportunities, Hayashi says:
These last few years have been good ones for Toyota and the use of creativity rather than money to solve problems may have been weakened. Now that the economy is slowing down and investments are harder to make, I think this is a good opportunity.
Taiichi Ohno said, "Your wits don't work until you feel the squeeze." Mr. Hayashi sees the latest economic slowdown as just the squeeze Toyota needs to develop thinking people.
Courtesy:http://www.gembapantarei.com/2008/08/toyotas_top_engineer_on_how_to_develop_thinking_pe.html

Visit to Bangalore

Guruvayoorappan temple, Bangalore. (opposite to ISKON)

Treasure hunt

Yellow fever

Glass house, Lalbagh garden, Bangalore