The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has named a crater captured by Chandrayaan 2 Orbiter after Vikram Sarabhai.

Try this PYQ:

What do you understand by the term Aitken Basin? (CSP 2012)

(a) It is a desert in southern Chile which is known to be the only location on earth where no rainfall takes place

(b) It is an impact crater on the far side of the Moon

(c) It is a Pacific coast basin, which is known to house large amounts of oil and gas

(d) It is a deep hypersaline anoxic basin where no aquatic animals are found

Sarabhai Crater

• “Sarabhai” Crater is named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai and around 250 to 300 kilometres east of this Crater is where the Apollo 17 and Luna 21 Missions had landed.
• The crater captured in 3D images shows that the Crater has a depth of around 1.7 Kms taken from its raised rim and the slope of Crater walls is in between 25 to 35 degree.
• These findings will help the Space Scientists to understand further the process of the lunar region filled with lava.

Who was Vikram Sarabhai?

• Sarabhai was an Indian physicist and astronomer who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India.
• He is internationally regarded as the Father of the Indian Space Program.
• Known as the cradle of space sciences in India, the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) was founded in 1947 by him. He was the founder of ISRO.
• He started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian satellite.
• As a result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian cosmodrome.

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