Mention ‘countdown’ in conjunction with rockets and what springs to mind is the sequence of numbers counted backwards ending with an earth-shaking lift-off blast. But there is another countdown, at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this week — the in-house journal of the VSSC with the same name. Countdown has faithfully chronicled not just the growth of the Indian space programme over the past four decades, but also the daily life at this high-profile, Thumba-based lead centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
This week, the VSSC will issue the special 40th anniversary volume (issue no: 480), a collectible that carries reminiscences by India’s top space scientists and former editors of the journal. “Just by glancing through the Countdown archives, one can have a fair picture of India’s progress in launch vehicle technology,” ISRO chairman K. Sivan, whose first tryst with Countdown came about in 1982 when he joined the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project at VSSC, writes in the 40th volume.
Editorial team
The first issue of Countdown came out in April, 1980, with R. Aravamudan as chief editor. The editorial team consisted of 40 people.
“The organisation was in a bit of turmoil, with difficult technical challenges. It is under these circumstances that Dr. Vasanth Gowariker (then VSSC director) felt that there must be a formal method of communicating to the staff regarding the developments, successes and problems rather than the word of mouth communication that was prevalent so far,” writes Mr. Aravamudan. S. Somanath, present director, VSSC, describes the contents in this monthly journal as a ‘ready-reference book’ characterised by ‘a perfect blend of technical information and overview of the activities of the Centre’.
Over the years, Countdown has remained popular not just with the VSSC staff, but with scientists in general and science journalists too. Back issues of Countdown are a treasure trove on ISRO missions.
Column on UAVs
The popular ‘Know About’ column — the 40th volume has one on UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) — dealt with diverse topics relevant to VSSC. S. R. Vijayamohanakumar, who chairs the current editorial committee, has an interesting story about how the name Countdown was chosen. “VSSC employees made 358 suggestions in all. The winning entry came from Rajaram Nagappa. ‘Space and You’ recommended by T. Jayakumar was chosen second best,” recalls Mr. Vijayamohanakumar.
Such has been the popularity of Countdown that on the day a new issue is released, almost everyone at the VSSC would have a copy in their hands while waiting for the evening bus home, recalls M. Chandradathan, a former VSSC director who is now scientific advisor to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Time has transformed Countdown too. From a print run of 6,000 copies per issue earlier, prominence is given to the digital format, thus reducing the number of print circulations to one-sixth, Mr. Vijayamohanakumar said.
