Mumbai will have its footprint on Nasa’s New Horizon spacecraft’s trajectory while executing a nail-biting historic flyby of the most distant and ancient object in the solar system, Ultima Thule, around 11am (IST) on Tuesday. The reason: The person who is playing a key role in navigating the spacecraft to this object, discovered just four years ago, is a Mumbaikar.
Shyam Bhaskaran of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory was born in 1963 at a clinic in Matunga. Bhaskaran, who has navigated a number of Nasa missions, spoke to TOI on Sunday, recalling that he stayed at Kenilworth, Pedder Road, which housed officials of the department of atomic energy. “My dad was with BARC,” he said.
Bhaskaran, who attended preschool at Kemps Corner, said he remembered playing with friends in and around Kenilworth. “I had a tricycle and I used to pedal it around the area.”
He left for the US in 1968, but returned to Mumbai in 1981 to meet relatives. “I found it was a really big city, full of life and crowded. I will certainly revisit in the future,” he said.
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