Today, India’s space programs command the world’s respect for a multitude of things -- our Mangalyaan mission was the cheapest ever, we recently launched about 108 satellites into space with a single rocket, our Chandrayaan mission is making fantastic discoveries on the Moon, we launched our own space based observatory with Astrosat...the list goes on. But when the country started its space program, it had very humble beginnings that are hard to believe. It required the courage and determination of many intellectuals and Prof. U R Rao is one of those who scripted a new chapter in India’s history of space research. Here is an orbituary piece dedicated to the life of a great visionary that we just lost amongst us. 

If you have ever visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium (JNP) in Bengaluru, you are sure to be mesmerized by the art of story telling in the recorded videos played during the shows and the cartoons on display. If there is one person that has to be credited to introducing this uniqueness to the planetarium, it is definitely Prof. C V Vishveshwara, famously called the ‘black hole man of India’.