James Webb Space Telescope - The Figure Behind

The entire astronomy family (experts, amateurs included) held their breaths tightly on December 25th, 2021, as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) made its way into its predestined position in the Lagrange 2 in space.

The successor to the legendary Hubble Space Telescope, JWST is in the news on all the astronomy forums and rightly so. While a lot has been said and written on its features and what it is supposed to do (including taking a look at the earliest moments of the formation of universe), I have felt that somehow not enough has been written on the person on whom it has been named - James E Webb and a lot is not known about him. In this post, I would make a humble effort of making everyone know about him. Request everyone to read on.

James Edwin Webb was an American government official, who had begun his career in public service in Washington D.C., by serving as the secretary to US Representative of North Carolina in 1932. In between his more promising positions of working as the Director of the Bureau of the Budget (1946-1949) and the Under Secretary of the State Department (1949-1952), he had also worked as the assistant to a private attorney and the Personnel Director of the Sperry Gyroscope (a private company).

He had also been posted in the Marines, when he was enlisted as a captain and later a major and was put in charge of a radar program meant for the invasion of the Japanese mainland, during the World War II, which could never see the light of the day, due to the Japanese surrender.

It was during his stint in the State Department, that he had established a profound relationship with the Congress and the ruling elite, mainly due to which he was offered the role of the Administrator of NASA (only the 2nd Administrator of NASA) by President John F. Kennedy himself.

Webb is often credited for pushing the stakes for meeting the goal set by Kennedy for landing an American on the Moon, before the 1960s through the Apollo program and rightly so. It was mainly due to the power he used to wield within the Congress and having got the backing and support of the then President Lyndon B. Johnson, that he could lobby for NASA in Congress and all the support and resources for Apollo were made readily available. The way NASA is known through out the world nowadays is mainly due to the contributions of James Webb, as he had laid the foundations of integrating a host of research centers into a fully functioning co-ordinated organization.

The Apollo program had its share of unfortunate incidents and accidents. After the Apollo 1 accident, Webb was very careful to ensure that the progress of the Apollo program was left unhindered and to this effect, he sacrificed much by owning much blame upon himself in most of the congressional committee meetings, in order to leave NASA and the Johnson administration out of it. Thus, the Apollo program owes a lot to the man, for it was much due to his selfless act, that they could achieve the Apollo 11 landing.

Not only the Apollo mission, Webb ensured that in spite of the pressure for meeting the timelines for the moon-landing deadline, NASA could carry out the Mariner and Pioneer space programs.

A staunch democrat, who was very close to the President Johnson, James Webb left his post of the NASA Administrator, after the President decided to not run for re-election, to allow the Republican President Richard Nixon choose his successor, under whom the Apollo dream was finally realized. He was honoured with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Johnson in 1968 and the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution in 1976 for his exemplary contributions.

Thanks to you for your patience in going through my post in entirety. That was my tribute to the man, after whom the machine we are looking forward to watch our past in the very near future, has been named. The James Webb Space Telescope. Thanks a lot!

Staring at the End of the Tunnel, finally...

Yes, it's over! All over! 2020 is thankfully now a thing of the past! I still remember those days of the early stages of the pandemic and the resulting weeks of gloom of apprehension and uncertainty which were looming over us in the early stages of 2020, like those happened just last week. And I am quite sure that like me, many of you would reciprocate my feelings here. But seriously, now that 2020 is past us, we can breathe a sigh of relief perhaps.

It would perhaps sound sheepish to just think of this relief from the mere psychological point of view that the year of doom and gloom that 2020 was, is over. The sense of calm and relief should perhaps be more attributed to the fact that now as a race, we are equipped with multiple vaccines, which have already started inoculating masses in the US and UK and which are also going to be mass-administered in India as well very soon. So perhaps, we are finally looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Debates will be there, of course, on the safety of these vaccines, given that they have been developed and tested in record times. Given the rough estimate of about 4-5 years which an odd vaccine take to develop, the vaccines for COVID-19 has been developed well within a year. But one thing that has to be said is that the researchers have really slogged really hard and put in their every bit of effort (humanly possible) to bring in these vaccines and hence we have these vaccines, this early. So yes, we can look at these with optimism, for our primary defence against the virus is there.

Our sense of relief can also be further accentuated by the fact that we have perhaps already seen the worst that the COVID-19 could have inflicted upon India and the world. Coming from the peak that was reached in September, the cases have come down a lot and is now kind of under control, to be honest. Special credit must be given to everybody who have stuck at homes during the long festival season in India and thus have helped a long way in keeping the number of infections under control, in the face of great apprehension and fear that doom was looming all over us, with the onset of the festivities here. And mind you, not even the entirety developed Western world can take credit for this, because they have and are still continuing to see multiple COVID-19 peaks. So fellow Indians, pat your backs once more! That thumbs up is for you!

Add to the above the wealth of experience which the last five-six months have contributed to all our doctors, researchers, virologists, epidemiologists and the likes. At the onset of the pandemic, nobody knew practically about this new evil, but now, they have so much knowledge, so many experiences, the general trends, symptoms, etc., that they should be and are feeling more confident than they were on, say, April. That's a real boon, honestly, given the fact it is they who are leading the battle against this 'unknown' enemy and are now holding the edge for us, the humanity. Kudos to you, guys! You are the real heroes, no lesser than the soldiers who are guarding the borders in inhospitable zones.

So, there you have it. Lots of hope, optimism, positivity and the eagerness to look forward to on this first day of the new year. There's this kind of old feeling of exuberance that a new year has started, which kind of resonates the feeling we have on this day every year. I am really not sure if the latter part of the 2020 didn't go much good, we would have been able to welcome 2021 like we are doing now. Of course, there's this feeling that the wretched year is going for good and we should welcome the new year with all the fanfare. But imagine a situation where say the vaccines have not worked in Trials, or say the virus has mutated to such a extent rapidly that scientists are finding it difficult to sequence the altered DNA and hence are not being able to arrive at a possible formula for the vaccine. Oh, I will spare you the chills, for these are just hypothetical scenarios, which I just wanted you to think about. Do you think, if any of these had occurred, we would have been welcoming 2021 with so much glee? I don't think so! But we are doing, right? So something just tells me we are moving in the right direction! Victory to humanity!

The 'Unknown' Enemy turning 'Known'...

It has been a while that I have made an entry in this blog of mine. The last time I remember having posted here and which you can all see below was when the Coronavirus pandemic was just starting to kick in and the effects of the nationwide lockdown were being discussed day in and out. That definitely was the need of the hour and that was what was done. Yes, the scenes of acute suffering of the common and hapless lot still ache our hearts and will continue to do so, as long as we are alive. But above all, what the people were most paranoid about was the nature of this disease which had just hit our civilization, a couple of months (then) back and about which we, as a race, were not at all aware. For us, specifically living in India, the thing was more sudden, if you remember. Till 29th January, there were no cases in India, as we had our first case of infection on 30th January in Kerala. Throughout February, the figures stayed low and the general feeling was that we could overcome it by maintaining basic hygiene and social distancing.

We went in for the nationwide lockdown, towards the end of March and the common mass felt that we could defeat COVID-19 by imposing a series of lockdowns, though the virologists and the epidemiologists warned us time and again that it was only a containing process and not a method we can use to overcome this pandemic. People were still learning, you see. They were still coming to terms with the new normal that the Coronavirus had imposed on the human society. To be honest, at that juncture, I didn't feel that the number of infected people in India would shoot up to 3.6 million, by the end of August. But the warning was always there, wasn't it? That was how the lockdown days were, at least till Lockdown 4.0 (end of May).

The lockdown had plenty of forced collateral damages, the most brutal among them being the one inflicted upon the already shrunk economy. So, we all knew that at some point of time, the Government would be forced to open the country and start the Unlock phase. This started from 1st June. And that is when, it all started to get murky, as had been expected. All the simulations which had been carried out by the various experts on how the situation would take shape, once the lockdown is lifted, started to come true. The forced (again) unlock resulted in a huge surge of daily cases across the country. States (like Kerala) which had scored huge initial victories against the virus, started to panic with the new situation and as a result saw their condition turning for the worse along with the other states in the country, which were already under the scanner for their bleak situation right from the very start of the pandemic (like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu).

As I frame this piece on 31st August, 2020, I can still see a record increase of daily infections in India (higher than the likes of the worst hit countries of the US and Brazil). August hasn't been really good with the numbers (daily positive cases and deaths as well). And to be honest, I don't think we have hit the peak yet (which I believe the US has already done). So that's surely a cause of concern. But among many things which may have accounted for this steep rise in number, the single-most important factor has to be the record increase in the number of testing that is being carried out across the country every single day. That's definitely a good thing, as we have to find and isolate the infected at the earliest stage possible. But on the downside, this will inevitably get the numbers up, as we are seeing currently.

But one thing on the positive side is that the people have become and got themselves educated on the virus more than they were, say a couple of months back. The common lay man now knows the difference between the symptomatic and the asymptomatic cases. They know that it's not the end of the road, even if you get infected by the virus. There's this 97%+ chance (in India) that you will recover fully and be back on your feet soon. So the fear factor has been thankfully reduced from the minds of the people. That's a real blessing, taking into consideration that they don't have much of an option, other than getting out and hitting the road. They can't stay locked down forever, can they? They have to earn their bread for the day, which they wouldn't be able to from the confines of their houses, in a country like ours. And what keeps them going nowadays, is the fact that we are starting to enter a phase where a viable vaccine (possibly multiple) seems pretty much in the fray. News reports have thronged us over the last few weeks telling about the positive results coming out of the trial phases of the various vaccine candidates. So there's a glimmer of hope, which the people are growing fond of these days. Let's hope that the glimmer only turns brighter by every passing day.

But there's a catch in there. The earliest we can have a vaccine is December, 2020 (though it's being widely reported it can get pushed to early 2021). So, there is still a lot of time we have on our hands before we have a possible cure for us. We do have to sustain this period of minimum 4-5 months. And the best way to go about this is by bolstering our immunity system. Already there are bundles of reports which suggest what one should be doing to ensure that they get this done. From consuming more citrus fruits for Vitamin C, to soaking in more sunlight in order to gain in more Vitamin D, all of these are in the public domain nowadays for gaining that advantage in terms of one's immunity response. And trust me, this will definitely help us a lot, in these coming months, what we are considering to be the final phase of this deadly showdown with the Coronavirus.

So, as I was saying. The last 5-6 months have been really tough, perhaps the toughest this generation of ours have ever seen. But my belief is that we are starting to come to a crossroads when it's not that much about the fear and oblivion that the first shock waves of this deadly pandemic had caused. It's more about how we get along with this 'known enemy', what we can do about it, how we can change our lives and our lifestyle for that matter for our own good and how we can finally stamp our authority on this deadly virus. I won't be getting overenthusiastic by saying 'victory over the virus', because that is something still quite far-fetched, something which we can't say is 100% possible from our current view. Leaving that discussion for a future blog, I would conclude this by saying that not all is lost. Actually, we have gained a lot in these last few months... a lot of crucial information, statistics, data, etc on the virus, which make us more aware about it. Of course, a known enemy is always better than an unknown one. Adios! Stay safe, everybody!

2020: Nature strikes back

When the lockdown had begun in March, one of the most important things that Governments around the world had taken special emphasis on was to maintain social distance among the public. Of course, with no vaccines or proven drugs to combat the ailment  in sight, ‘social distancing’ was and even continues to be our best bet to fight this pandemic.

At that moment of crisis, when various thoughts were crossing my mind, as I am sure had been the case with a lot of you, one thought  in particular was what if we face a severe calamity, like an earthquake or a storm, may be. What will the already hapless people do? Already they have been subjected to so much of confusion and chaos. I was counting the days and thanking the God in my silent prayers that indeed He had at least saved us from that kind of a torrid situation. Yes, the migrant labourers’ crisis had still not occurred then.

Little did I know that on May 20th, I would be typing this down at around 10 in the night, trying to come to terms with the reality of the situation at this moment. We are already through with three sets of lockdowns, but still we are encountering with record number of COVID-19 infected patients every other day. Now under the Lockdown 4.0, with plenty of relaxations already in place, people have begun to step out of their homes. Thus, there are visibly more people on the roads, which consequently means there are more chances of the infection spreading further. So we were in a bit of doldrums already.

May 20th, 2020: Add to that the mayhem called Amphan. The thought that I had had in the beginning of this lockdown, about which I had written earlier in my post was just materialised and made alive by this monster from the Bay of Bengal.

Flashback to last weekend: I was just going through the headlines from the online version of a local Bengali daily when I had come to know of this thing called Amphan, which was said to be heading towards the Bengal-Odisha coast. The sheer strength of the cyclone was highlighted and that surely had made it into a cause of concern for the entire nation. Amidst the entire fiasco of maintaining social distancing while the lockdown is still on, the Government had to undertake an evacuation program to vacate all the districts which were in line for the hit by the storm. During this past couple of days, newspaper reports have been very active telling about such evacuation activities being undertaken in Bengal and Odisha. People have been relocated, keeping in mind all the social distancing norms. This is a great challenge, in front of the Government, one in which it cannot put its guard down, even for a minute.

Jump back to today, Wednesday. The sky was grumpy from the morning. As the day progressed, things worsened quite fast and by afternoon, the winds had started to gather steam. With it began incessant rain, which also picked up real vigour. Landfall happened at almost the exact time and place, as had been earlier predicted. Though I could manage to continue working for the better part of the day, thanks to my internet and power holding their way, but after evening, both of those suddenly gave way and we were engulfed in darkness, making my work short for the day (not complaining though).

It is then when I started to frame this post. And suddenly, this made me feel how merciless has Mother Nature been this year. Well, though the origin of the coronavirus is highly debated, the official verdict still stands out to claim that it is a natural virus. Even the staunchest of the anti-Chinese claims make the virus to be a naturally occurring virus, cultured in a lab in Wuhan. I won’t go into much details, without further proof. But as it still stands, the virus is naturally occurring. The way it has spread between the human beings is natural (though its alleged leak from the lab might not have been). It has already made itself a game changer in the entire path of the human race. The impact of the virus is in front of everybody to see. So won’t really delve into it much deeper.

When my nation was already under immense pressure in its fight against this virus, suddenly comes in Amphan. With this enormous evacuation process that has been undertaken, I just feel for the people who have been relocated. Just hope that all the social distancing norms and the necessary hygiene would be followed at their relocated places, to ensure that during this evacuation, they don’t start facing the menace of the Coronavirus. A humble request to the Central and State Governments to ensure that this be looked upon. Otherwise this might really lead into another big tragedy, something for which we are really not prepared for.

I would conclude by picking something I had written earlier in my post about the silent token of thanks which I had sent for the Almighty, earlier when the lockdown had been in place, as there were apparently no cases of natural calamities. But tonight, with Amphan raging in my state and throwing my country off balance from her fight against COVID-19, I’m sorry I can’t say the same for the Almighty. You have let us down, you really have! I am sorry, but that’s the truth! Hope we can tackle this and come out of this as well. But we are on our own. The help for which people pray sadly hasn’t arrived and by the look of things, won’t arrive, unfortunately.

War, a very long war...

It was an evening like this, I remember, three weeks back, when I had drafted a post where I said that the current (then) situation related to the COVID-19 crisis reminded me of the Chernobyl disaster. Little did I know that this was perhaps going to be worse, much worse than what Chernobyl was. This is the worst global disaster of the last decade is an understatement, to put it straight! In fact, this is the worst crisis, our developed society has ever faced!

With the lockdown in India extended for 15 more days, we can really understand that is going to be a long war, a war with no immediate victory. With the doctors, health workers, police and the entire administration doing all that they can, the situation is undoubtedly gloomy now.

But again, we should take note that these are are real trying times with unprecedented measures being taken. Never ever has the Indian economy come to such a grinding halt. Even during the four wars (three against Pakistan and one against China), the Indian industries and the normal life was normal in the country. Even during the 1975 Emergency, the Indians continued to do their day to day activities and the economy was rolling. But this time, it’s really different. It’s a full lockdown, with no exemption whatsoever.

For now, I can see hope in a number of things though. The testings have been ramped up, with rapid testings being carried out in the hotspots. This can only help us in identifying and quarantining the infected, keeping in mind the health of the entire neighbourhood and the immediate surrounding areas. Also, with this, the authorities have fixed hotspots across the country to ensure that people don’t come out or go into them. These will surely help in containing the infection to the zones which have already got affected.

But however, the most important and positive thing that has drawn our attention in the last couple of days is the Investigational COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Treatment. Without a viable vaccine in sight for at least the next six months, this is perhaps going to be the most potent weapon in our fight against the Coronavirus. The fraternity of all the researchers and the doctors are working on applying this technique to the COVID-19 patients and making them recover, like they have done in China and US. This gives me hope, speaking from the positive response that this treatment has seen.

But yeah, as I have mentioned earlier, the fight is a long one... A really long one indeed! Let’s look into this extension of lockdown as the time we need to fully recover. The time we need to flatten the curve. It will be hard, I know. There will be inconveniences, I know. But it is a war, we are fighting, right? Perhaps even something worse than a war... Hardships are bound to be there, isn’t it? So the important thing is - Do we have a choice? Lockdown was the only choice. Still, India is in a better shape, compared to many other nations, now with more tests being carried out. The numbers have risen surely, but still it’s within our reach. It’s high time we resolve ourselves to fight this unitedly, because it’s Make or Break Time, guys! And can we afford to break it? Think for yourself, guys...

Lockdown - The First Day...

Amidst all these depressing news, hopelessness, try to find positivity and spread optimism, if you really can. No point in spreading negativity and throwing criticisms at anybody during these trying times. These are unprecedented times, something which nobody has been prepared for.
We are just past the first day of the 21 day lockdown. Inconvenience will surely be felt, but the Government and the authorities are doing their bit. That’s why you are still getting the daily essential supplies. The grocery shops, markets are open with their stocks up. The general public have also started to come to terms with the concept of social distancing, maintaining a safe distance between one another while standing in queues for doing their grocery. Thanks to the local authorities for maintaining this strictly. However, this should be continued under strict vigilance in the coming days.
Let’s remember one thing! This is the first time India is facing a thing like this. And yesterday was the first such day. Even the Government has never dealt with such a scenario, so even they don’t have any past experience. But still they are trying to do their part and I am sure that they will bridge the gaps, which are emerging, in the coming days of the lockdown. They also need the time to prepare. So, let’s back them in these difficult times.
Believe me, when we will be past all these, all the difficulties and challenges we are facing now will make for a great story, if not a case study, for us and our future generations to get inspired. Let’s all play a positive part in this! Jai Hind!

Covid-19 reminds me of Chernobyl...

With all that is going on through out the world due to the Covid-19, it somehow, somewhere reminds me of so many scenes from the miniseries - 'Chernobyl', depicting the details surrounding the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This is true, especially for cases like what's happening in Italy now and China, just a few days back. The procession of dead bodies and the helplessness of the human beings as a species in dealing with the situation is something, I can draw a parallel between the two disasters.

In India, we are relatively safe for the time being. But we are already in Stage 2 of the Coronavirus transmission and if we are not very careful, we can slip into the Stage 3 very soon. Often, while watching the 'Chernobyl' miniseries, especially during the flashback scenes, I used to feel, "Ah, if they only knew what was coming for them... If only they could head out from the town of Pripyat and the neighbourhood of Chernobyl, they could have saved themselves... But they weren't so lucky. They didn't have a chance. It was all too sudden, without even a warning!

But here, in India, we have a chance still. And to do that, we don't even need to travel to some place safer. Our country is more safe and our homes are the safest now. So what do we need to do to make ourselves safe? Nothing! Just stay indoors to stay safe! That's it! I know, there will be people who would need to go out, but please ensure that those cases are only on emergencies. Nothing else! That shouldn't be very difficult, right? In fact, sounds really easy!

So, why are we stopping! Can we even imagine, what will happen if the transmission enters Stage 3, in a densely populated country as ours? Now we are getting shocks by a daily increase of 65 odd Coronavirus positive cases. Can we even think about the situation if that number touches a 1000 odd or even more perhaps? That's exactly what happens in the Stage 3. Frankly, I don't have the courage to think about it and I am sure, you don't too. So let's get somewhere we don't have to think about it. Let's get Home and stay there. Because, as I have been telling, the unfortunate people at Pripyat (Chernobyl), that night didn't get the chance that night. No body was there to tell them. But here, I am looking from hindsight and telling what they could have done. Let's promise ourselves we don't have to do the same for us, sometime in future from our hindsight, then. Let's be safe! Let's be at home!