Indian Astrophysicist Prahlad Agrawal Wins COSPAR Award 2024

July 22, 2024

Prahlad Chandra Agrawal, an eminent Indian astrophysicist, was awarded the COSPAR Harrie Massey Award 2024 at the 45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Busan, South Korea, on July 15, 2024. The award recognizes his important contributions to space science and gives him the name of a minor planet 20064 Prahladagrawal.

AstroSat and Its Significance

AstroSat, India’s first multi-wavelength space telescope, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on September 28, 2015. Agrawal was in charge of the project. AstroSat was approved in 2004 with a budget of Rs 400 crore. It has four devices that are aligned so that they can look at celestial bodies at the same time using different wavelengths. It was only supposed to be there for five years, but it’s still giving us useful information, like important new information about black holes.

Contributions and Collaborations

AstroSat was made by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), and the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre of ISRO. Over 500 scientific papers and more than 30 doctoral theses have used its findings as important parts. AstroSat data is open source, which makes it easier for researchers around the world to work together.

Academic and Professional Background

Agrawal is a senior professor in the Space Physics department at TIFR. He did his graduate work at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA. He helped make NASA’s HEAO-1 A4 device and was in charge of the Indian X-Ray Astronomy Experiment on the IRS P-3 satellite, which was launched in March 1996.

About AstroSat space telescope

AstroSat was launched in 2015 and is India’s first specialized multi-wavelength space observatory. It has five scientific payloads. At a distance of 650 km, it works in low Earth orbit. AstroSat can look at the stars in X-ray, ultraviolet, and optical bands, which lets scientists study a lot of different areas of astrophysics. It only lasts about five years, but it still works well after that. The main purpose of the journey is to look into things in space like black holes and neutron stars. AstroSat made important contributions to the study of areas where stars are being formed and found new sources in space.

About COSPAR Harrie Massey Award 2024

Purpose and Recognition: The COSPAR Harrie Massey Award 2024 honors significant contributions to space science, recognizing outstanding work in planetary science, space physics, and related fields. Named after physicist Harrie Massey, a prominent figure in space research, the award highlights individuals who have had a substantial influence on the direction of space research.

Awarding Body and History: The award is given by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and was established in 1999. It is presented every two years during the COSPAR Scientific Assembly, celebrating exceptional achievements and advancements in space science.

Criteria and Collaboration: Nominees for the COSPAR Harrie Massey Award must have demonstrated significant influence on the direction of space research. The award also aims to improve international collaboration among scientists, promoting the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the global space science community.

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