Sachin Bahmba, the founder of Science Popularisation Association of Communicators & Educators(SPACE) Foundation, wants nothing more than to see people take astronomy and space science seriously. He’s the person behind the science clubs in about 250 schools across the country. “When I was in school I asked questions about everything. We were taught about microscopes and telescopes in the same class and it struck me that hands-on experience was only given only on microscopes and not telescopes.” His teacher told him that the school was not equipped with one. So he made his own.
- Corporate sector programmes, to enhance problem-solving abilities and leadership skills through the various activities.
- Parent collaborative learning, for families, where children and parents experience new concepts together.
In Delhi University, from 1991 to 1996, he had a similar experience, when he was studying physics and astrophysics, with the observatory not equipped. Here, he talks about what his journey.
Who inspired you to initiate the SPACE group?
After my M.Sc., I worked under the late Dr. Nirupma Raghavan (Director of Nehru Planetarium), who is my mentor and inspiration. She made learning easy, both science and maths. My friend and I, started working under her, which really built our confidence. We also went to various places with her to gain some practical knowledge. One such place was Bhind, Madhya Pradesh, where we went to the see solar eclipse. To explain and to see the 52-second eclipse, Dr. Raghavan put me in-charge of showing it to the local people. They were so curious, and I realised how badly we need exposure to space sciences. This is when I thought of starting an NGO (in 2001), SPACE.
What is astro tourism and how do you promote it?
Skies put up wonderful shows for us. Some of these can be watched from anywhere in the world and for others you have to travel. We need to travel because of light pollution. So we go to locations where we can see the night sky clearly. We coined the word with the term Astroports, because a port transports you to another place. Astro-tourism has great potential to provide jobs to lakhs of people. Currently, there are six Astroports in India: Sariska, Ranthambore, Jaipur, in Rajasthan; Kanha in Madhya Pradesh, Sagar (near Jog Falls) in Karnataka; and Corbett, Uttarakhand. My primary mission is launching a number of Astro-tourism concepts in our country. We provide NASA trips to our school and college students.
What is the best time to visit an astroport?
This depends on what you want to see. If you want to see deep-sky objects, come at a time when the moon is not overly bright (avoid three days before and after the full moon). Between September and March is an overall good time.
What do you plan to do over the next couple of years?
The primary mission and vision of our company is to build 30 Astroports across the country away from urban cities and pollution. Through in-house training, we aim to generate more and more employment opportunities in the niche sector of astro-tourism.
