NASA FLORIDA SPACE GRANT
CONSORTIUM
Mail Stop: FSGC, Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
WWW Address: http://www.floridaspacegrant.org
DIRECTOR
Dr. Jaydeep Mukherjee
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Dr. Penelope Haskins
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Ms. Sreela Mallick
CONSORTIUM MEMBERS
Astronaut Memorial Foundation
Bethune Cookman University
Eckerd College
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ.
Florida A&M University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Community Colleges
Florida Gulf Coast University
Florida Institute of Technology
Florida International University
Space Florida
Florida State University
Kennedy Space Center
University of Central Florida
University of Florida
University of Miami
University of North Florida
University of South Florida
University of West Florida
Tel # 321-452-4301 ; Fax # 321-449-0739
Email: fsgc@mail.ucf.edu
May 12, 2009
To whom it may concern:
It is my pleasure to recommend the Helios Astronomy Group, Mumbai for its
expedition to China for the Observation of Coronal Mass Flow using Fabry-
Perot interferometer and Flash Spectrum observation during the Total Solar
Eclipse of July 22, 2009. The weather predictions in India during the time of the
solar eclipse are not conducive for observing and hence the requirement to travel
to China.
I am the Director of the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium and the Interim
Director of the Florida Space Institute, both located at the Kennedy Space Center
in the US. I travel to Mumbai regularly and during my last visit I met the
members of the group. I was very impressed with their professional and
technical approach to the project. The members of this group are very dedicated
to their work and deserve all the support from the community. The group
members who are going for the expedition are 1) Jatin S. Rathod, 2) Ankush T.
Bhaskar, 3) Vaishali S. Kharat, 4) Chintamani Pai, 5) Sumeet Deshmukh, 6)
Samrat Patel, 7) Mohsin Patel, 8) Dhanashree Shinde and 9) Neha Das.
The Helios Astronomy Group has been an active member in all respects of
Astronomy during the last 5 years. The group takes part in all possible events
such as eclipses of the Sun and Moon, Meteor Observations, Occultation of stars,
teaching astronomy, Meteorite study, study of Solar flares and popularization of
astronomy. As a result the group has produced research papers on Lunar
Eclipses, the Jagganath meteorite (2006) with Akash Ganga Centre for
Astronomy, India; Solar flare and proton event, etc. The motive for this
expedition is purely education and research and the results obtained will be
published in scientific journals.
I therefore strongly recommend that all possible material and financial support
be given to the Helios Astronomy Group members and thank all those who may
provide such support.
Sincerely,
Jaydeep Mukherjee, Ph.D.
Director, NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium