THE TIMES OF INDIA (January 25, 2010)

Bollywood has finally made it to the moon. It is making its presence felt 4 lakh km away on the lunar surface in an area close to where the first men on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on July 20, 1969, reports Srinivas Laxman.


The International Lunar Geographic Society, a New York-based organisation devoted to the study of the moon, has declared that a lunar crater in the moon’s Sea of Tranquillity has been christened after Shah Rukh Khan.


This has been approved by the International Astronomical Union, which has a final say with regard to the naming of craters on the moon. The crater “has been given the honorary designation as Crater S R Khan on the occasion of Mr Khan’s 44th birthday’’ on November 2, 2009, said the society.


The decision has triggered a mixed response within the scientific community, with the father of the Indian moon mission Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan supporting it, but president of the National Space Society, Suresh Naik, describing it as “shocking’’.

According to the International Lunar Geographic Society, the lunar crater was named after Shahr Rukh Khan following an enormous deluge of petitions from the superstar’s ardent admirers, both in India and around the world. Incidentally, one of his dedicated admirers has already presented him with a piece of the moon by buying him land there.
With the crater named after him, Shah Rukh now joins the ranks of eminent people after whom craters have been named, including scientists like Nobel laureate C V Raman, father of the Indian space programme Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian nuclear programme Homi Bhabha and other luminaries like Meghnad Saha.


Secretary of the Indian chapter of the Moon Society, Pradeep Mohandas, shared father of the Indian moon mission K Kasturirangan’s view. “I think it is not a bad idea since it reflects the thinking of the new generation of young Indians,’’ he said. In another vein, a young schoolgirl commented, “I think another crater on the moon should be named after Amitabh Bachchan, since he is also a great actor.’’


Space scientist Mayank Vahia, of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, said, “While it may not be too appropriate to name it after SRK, we are acknowledging that the Indian film industry is getting the same recognition as Hollywood.’’ Craters on the moon have been named after Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Michael Jackson.


Kasturirangan told TOI on Sunday from New Delhi that Shah Rukh is extremely popular and a symbol of national pride. “I do see a rationale behind this decision. He is a kind of ambassador for India and this reflects the way India views him,’’ he said.


However, Naik said this kind of recognition should only go to scientists. “I think this is not a good practice. Artists are good, but they should be recognised in a different way,’’ he said from Pune.


SRK’s link with the space programme goes back to May 2001, when the last man who stood on the surface of the moon, Eugene A Cernan, during a visit to Mumbai invited the actor to Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The actor sat in a model of the lunar vehicle which was brought over by Cernan. Shah Rukh acted in ‘Swades’, the bulk of which was shot in Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.


The S R Khan Crater is part of the Arago crater group, named for Francois Jean Dominique Arago, a Catalan-French mathematician, physicist, astronomer and politician who lived from 1786 to 1853. It is the largest of the main Arago crater’s four satellite craters and rests in the Sea of Tranquillity, directly south of the main crater. The Apollo 11 lunar landing site lies southeast of the crater, which is visible from Earth when viewed with a standard consumer-grade telescope under optimal conditions.


Among others receiving the rare tribute of having a lunar crater named after them in the past century are Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Sir Isaac Newton, Julius Caesar and Jules Verne. The International Lunar Geographic Society advocates privatised exploration, settlement and development of the moon, according to information on its website.