Indian astrophysicist Prahlad Chandra Agrawal has been awarded the prestigious COSPAR Harrie Massey Award 2024. The award ceremony took place at the opening of the 45th COSPAR Scientific Assembly in Busan, South Korea, on July 15. Agrawal is the first Indian recipient of this award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to space research, particularly in leadership roles.
The award includes a medal, a citation, and the honor of having a Minor Planet named after him (20064 Prahladagrawal). Agrawal, 83, was the guiding force and Principal Investigator for AstroSat, India’s first dedicated multi-wavelength space telescope. Launched on September 28, 2015, AstroSat was initially planned as a five-year mission but continues to provide valuable data, including significant discoveries like the black hole binary source Swift J1727.8-1623.
AstroSat’s observations have been cited in over 500 research papers and have resulted in more than 30 PhD theses. The telescope’s open source data is available to researchers worldwide. Agrawal is a former Senior Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in the Space Physics department and was also a member of ISRO’s Lunar Task Force for the Chandrayaan 1 mission.
In his acceptance speech, Agrawal thanked his mentors and colleagues, acknowledging their support in his career and contributions to India’s space programme. His family released a statement highlighting the significance of his achievements and the honor of the award.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
