The Indian Centre for Space Physics is an Indian non-profit research organisation dedicated to carrying out advanced research in astronomy, astrophysics and space science. It is a sister institute of the University of Calcutta. It is located in the southern part of the city of Kolkata. Its new campus is being built on Eastern metropolitan bypass behind Metro Cash and Carry. Its Ionospheric and Earthquake Research Centre (IERC) where a 24 inch optical telescope is being installed there. School and college students regularly carry out sky watching using its 10 inch telescope.
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Indian Centre for Space Physics is a premiere Research Institute dedicated to carry out research in various challenging branches of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science. It is a Govt. aided institution, but majority of the research fund comes from projects from National and International funding agencies. Major projects are from MOES, ISRO and DST. CSIR (NET) scholars can also directly carry out Ph.D. programme here. It is an autonomous body, affiliated to Calcutta University. Presently, students working towards Ph.D. are taken. However, MSc students do carry out projects also.
History
Indian Centre for Space Physics (originally 'Centre for Space Physics') was founded in 1999 to fill the vacuum of research activities in the areas of Astrophysics and Cosmology in Eastern India. The founding Secretary, Prof. Sandip K. Chakrabarti, is also the In Charge of all the Academic activities. The Centre is governed by the governing body whose presidents were/are Prof. Chanchal K. Majumdar (1999-2000), Prof. S.P. Sengupta (2000-2006), Prof. U.R. Rao (2006-2007) and Prof. B.B. Bhattacharyya (2007- ). About 30 students have completed their work towards Ph.D. degree and another 15 students are working. It is an autonomous Institute partly funded by West Bengal Government and the rest of funding comes through projects. Its alumni are faculties and post docs of various national and international reputed institutions.
Activities and Collaborations
It has four major departments working on (a) Astrochemistry and astrobiology, (b) Ionospheric science, (c) Black hole astrophysics and (d) Balloon borne science in near space (~ 40 km).
ICSP is collaborating with several national and international institutions and universities. It is a member of Erasmus Mundus joint PhD programme in astronomy funded by European Union. Several of its scientists have been trained at ICTP (International Centre for Theoretical Physics), Italy. Scientist from ICSP has been taken part in the Antarctica expeditions. In the balloon borne science mission, this institute has been visited the near space for more than 100 times.
Lunar Probe
The nation’s space industry has come of age, and many private players and educational institutions are in the fray. For the first time in the history Indian space research, scientists from Kolkata have made an instrument which will be sent with the payload to the moon. The instrument will alight on the lunar surface in January 2018 to commemorate the 69th Republic Day.
The instrument will be a part of the mission to unfurl the nation’s Tricolor on the moon’s surface. Team Indus, which is a consortium of private players, has embarked on an ambitious project to send a lunar lander to the moon in December 2017, for winning the Google Lunar X Prize. The Bengaluru-based company will also carry the four kg payload aboard the lander. The lander and at least two rovers will be sent aboard the workhorse of the Indian Space Research Organisation, PSLV.
The instrument will have an X-ray detector along with four hi-tech computers and other complex parts. The instrument will increase our understandings about black holes, dark energy, radiations and intergalactic cosmic rays. India’s earlier Chandrayaan I mission was limited to the mapping of the moon. The mission had many achievements to its name and included the first confirmation of water on the Moon’s poles, an achievement which was even acknowledged by NASA.
The race to the moon has intensified, and the institute has also joined the quest for the exploitation of the mineral wealth on the moon. The moon has an inexhaustible deposit of Helium 3 which will serve a significant role in Thermonuclear Energy. The Moon will also be used as a springboard for future deep space journeys.
However it will not be an easy venture, and the model will have to be handed over by March 2017. It will be subjected to a series of tests to ascertain if the instrument can withstand the rigors of the launch and the journey to the only satellite of earth. The instrument will also have to endure extreme fluctuations of temperatures and pressure and will have to work in the near vacuum and airless condition on the moon.