ISRO Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan and Chandrayaan stars
S Somnath, K Sivan, Ritu Karidhal's Tata Group connection: Know how the conglomerate has contributed to India's space exploration journey
Produced by: Harshita
Designed by: Mohsin Shaikh
Indian Space Research Organisation's ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission's success has made India the first nation in the world to make a soft landing on the south pole of the Moon. The ISRO on August 31 said that the Pragyan rover has travelled a distance of approximately 15 metres and captured a snap showing the Vikram lander. The Indian space agency has released several videos of the rover, and images captured by the Pragyan rover
ISRO shares Pragyan rover
video, images
isro pragyan rover
After the phenomenal success of the Chandrayaan-3 success, the educational background of ISRO scientists involved in the lunar mission has come into focus. Even Congress MP Shashi Tharoor talked about the same when he said, "Indians are rightly obsessed with the IITs, but let's salute the alumni of unsung engineering colleges who serve the public sector with dedication & who are the backbone of national enterprises like @ISRO. IITians went to Silicon Valley; CETians took us to the moon!"
Educational background
of ISRO scientists
Not many know that several celebrated ISRO scientists have a connection with one of India's oldest conglomerates the Tata Group, as they studied in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, an institute set up by the Tata Group. In the 1890s, industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata decided to set up a world-class university in India using his personal wealth as he strongly believed in the role of scientific research and higher education in social and economic transformation
ISRO Scientists' Tata
Group connection
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Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata’s dream of establishing what eventually came to be known as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) became a reality with the support of the Mysore State, whose rulers the Regent Queen Maharani Kempananjammani Vani Vilasa Sannidhana provided 371 acres and 16 guntas of land in Bangalore, funds for capital expenditure, and an annual contribution for the project. The remaining money to set up IISc came from the colonial government of India
Tata sets up IISc
Credit: IISc Bangalore
IISc set up its Aeronautical Engineering department in 1942, during World War II, the war that brought Vikram Sarabhai to IISc. He had completed an undergraduate degree in Physics and Maths at Cambridge. Due to the war, he was allowed to work on his PhD in India under the supervision of CV Raman. The Nobel Laureate established the Department of Physics at IISc in 1933 and became the first Indian director of IISc in 1934
Vikram Sarabhai comes
to IISc
It was at IISc that Vikram Sarabhai met Homi J Bhabha, the father of India’s atomic energy programme. In 1962, Sarabhai was appointed chairman of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Six years later in 1969, INCOSPAR became ISRO with Vikram Sarabhai still at the helm. He led India’s space programme till his sudden death on December 30, 1971
Vikram Sarabhai heads ISRO
When Sarabhai died suddenly, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked Satish Dhawan, the then director of IISc, to take over. Dhawan, who had studied aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology, had joined IISc’s Aerospace Department as faculty in 1951. He became head of the department by 1956 and the institute’s youngest director by 1963. He agreed to take over at ISRO only if he could also continue as IISc’s director
Satish Dhawan: IISc alumnus
ISRO has set up a Space Technology Cell at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and several celebrated ISRO scientists come from IISc. S Somnath, Secretary, Department of Space and Chairperson, Space Commission, ISRO, completed his BTech in Mechanical Engineering from TKM College of Engineering, Kollam, and Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He specialised in Structures, Dynamics and Control with a gold medal
ISRO Chairman S Somnath:
IISc alumnus
PS Nair, who worked on India’s first satellite mission, Aryabhatta, is also an IISc alumnus, along with Brahm Prakash, the first director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC). AS Kiran Kumar, former ISRO chairperson, also studied at IISc. Dr S Unnikrishnan Nair, the Director at VSSC and Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) Thiruvananthapuram, who was involved in the development of various aerospace systems and mechanisms for several launch vehicles including the PSLV, GSLV, and LVM3, has an ME in Aerospace Engineering from IISc Bangalore
IISc Bangalore stars at ISRO
Former ISRO Chairman, Sivan Kailasavadivu, commonly known as K Sivan, is an Indian space scientist, who also served as the Secretary of the Department of Space, Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre. He got a master's degree in aerospace engineering from IISc, Bangalore in 1982, and started working in ISRO
Former ISRO chief K Sivan:
IISc Bangalore alumnus
Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, who had joined the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after attaining a master’s degree in aerospace sciences from IISc, was the mission director for Chandrayaan-2. She was also the deputy operation director for India’s Mars Mission Mangalyaan. The ‘Rocket Woman of India’ has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc)