AWAKENINGS

( Extracted from E-Touch 60 dated 01 -08 - 2008) Pavithran, the Reporter of E-Touch, had entered the Editor’s room with a handful of newspapers in his hand and threw them angrily at the Editor’s table.   ‘I think that there is no end to this foolish and blind faith of the people in miracles!’ thundered Pavithran.   The Editor could sense the reasons for his anger and he was very much aware of his rational outlooks. Pavithran was really upset over the mad rush of the people to see the statue of Shiradi Sai Baba’s one eye being opened with real eye in one house of a devotee at Bangalore City.   The Editor had carefully scrutinized the left eye of the statue from the photo published in the papers that looked more or less like a real eye. But, the Editor did not say this, as he was sure that Pavithran would react vehemently resulting in heated arguments.   ‘Pavithran, miracles do happen. I was told that Mr.S.Gopalakrishnan, one of our senior members had his own experienc...

  Aditya-L1 launching by ISRO is India’s first solar observatory mission. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 59th flight with the Aditya-L1 onboard, took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 11.50 a.m on 2 nd  September 2023. About 63 minutes after take-off, the separation from the satellite took place with the PSLV launching the Aditya-L1 spacecraft in a highly eccentric orbit around Earth at 12.53 p.m. This was among the longest flights of ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle in recent times. Following the launch, Aditya-L1 will stay in orbit around Earth for 16 days, during which it will undergo five manoeuvres to gain the necessary velocity for its long journey towards the sun. Subsequently, Aditya-L1 will undergo a Trans-Lagrangian1 insertion manoeuvre, marking the beginning of its 110-day trajectory to the destination around the L1 Lagrange point. Upon arrival at the L1 point, another manoeuvre binds Aditya-L1 to an orbit around L1, a b...