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It is due to the blood, sweat and toil of these individuals and institutes that India’s ambition to land on the Moon became a Mission Possible:
G Madhavan Nair
Chairman, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)
Is the Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary to Department of Space, Government of India since September 2003. He is also the Chairman, Space Commission.
Nair, a leading technologist in the field of rocket systems, made significant contribution to the development of multi-stage satellite launch vehicles, achieving self-reliance in independent access to space using indigenous technologies. Nair and his team have worked relentlessly in the face of several challenges in the regime of technology denials by adopting several innovations and novel techniques to realise world class launch vehicle systems. India today has a pride of place amongst the space-faring nations in launch vehicle technology.
Specifically, as Project Director, he led the development of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has since become the workhorse for launching mainly Indian remote sensing satellites.
As Director of ISRO’s largest R & D Centre, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, he also saw India’s Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) successfully coming to fruition. Further, as Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre of ISRO, he played a central role in the design and development of the crucial cryogenic engine for GSLV.
Born at Neyyattinkara near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, he graduated with a B. SC in Engineering (1966) from College of Engineering there with specialization in Electrical & Communication. After his graduation Nair attended Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Training School, Mumbai.
A highly decorated scientist he was conferred the "Padma Bhushan" in 1998 in recognition of his services to the Country in field of science.
M Annadurai
Project Director, Chandrayaan-1
Prior to the present appointment, Annadurai was in Charge of India`s National Communication satellite (INSAT) missions as the Mission Director. He has also served as the Associate Project director, for GSAT-3EDUSAT. He was the member secretary of the task team that prepared Chandrayaan-1 project report. He is the author of several research papers in his specialisation.
Born on 2 July, 1958, in Kothawady near Pollachi in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu He obtained his Masters Degree in Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore and joined ISRO in 1982.
TK Alex
Director, ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre)
Starting with the first Indian Satellite Aryabhata he has been responsible for the sensor systems in all the Indian satellites. Under his leadership the Laboratory for Electro Optics Systems was established in 1993 and from the inception he has been its Director.
He developed new mathematical models for the IR radiation of the Earth in carbon dioxide band, which is correlated to geographical location, seasons and solar cycle. He developed new algorithm for improving attitude accuracy of satellites using earth sensor by on-board error correction and another one for the estimation of angular rate of satellites using star sensors.
Dr Alex contributed significantly in configuring most of the Indian satellites. He was the Head of the Sensor Systems Division of ISAC and Project manager for the attitude control systems of IRS-I. He was the Principal Scientist for SMART camera of Rohini-D2 satellite . As Project Director for the remote sensing experiment conducted during first Indian Manned Space Flight, he was involved in the training of the cosmonaut and participated in the launch campaign and data utilization projects. He was the Study Director of IRS-IC/ID satellite which carried the worlds best imaging cameras for civilian application. He was the Project Director for the Advanced Sensor Development Project in which a number of detectors for space application were developed. He is now involved in the management of the Chandrayaana Project, a mission to the Moon and is guiding the development of a Laser altimeter for study of the topography of Moon.
Dr T K Alex received is gold medalist and received his bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Kerala University, did his Masters from I.I.T, Madras and Doctorate from I.I.Sc, Bangalore in Aerospace Engineering. Dr Alex specializes in Electro-Optic systems for space.
Mission Directors
Srinivas Hegde, George Koshy
Entrusted with the responsibility for the entire flight. They gave the final nod for the launch after all the systems are a ‘go’ for the lift off.
MYS Prasad
Associate Director of the Sriharikota Complex and Range Operations Director
He is responsible for all important pre-launch operations like fuelling and assembling at Sriharikota.
SK Shivakumar
Director of ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network
His work involves communication between the spacecraft and the ground stations. The most critical moment for him will be when the spacecraft enters the lunar orbit.
JN Goswami
Director of the Ahmedabad-based Physical Research Laboratory and Principal Scientific Investigator of Chandrayaan-1
He is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the entire scientific data beamed from the spacecraft.
Narendra Bhandari
Head, ISRO`s Planetary Sciences and Exploration program
The following ISRO Centres are participating in the Chandrayaan Mission -1
1. ISRO Headquarters, Bangalore, India
2. ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, India
3. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, India
4. Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, India
5. ISRO Telemetry , Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Bangalore, India
6. Laboratory for Electro Optic Systems (LEOS), Bangalore, India
7. Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, India
8. Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram, India
9. National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad, India
10. Liquid Propulsion Systems Center (LPSC) Bangalore & Mahendragiri, India
11. ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU),Thiruvananthapuram, India
International Groups participating in Chandrayaan Mission -1 are
12. Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK
13. Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy, Lindau,Germany
14. Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
15. Solar-Terrestrial Influences Laboratory, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
16. Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety, France
17. Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czechoslovakia
18. Applied Physics Lab, Johns Hopkins University, MD, USA
19. Naval Air Warfare Centre, Chinalake, CA, USA
20. Brown University, USA
21. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA
22. Centre d`Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France
23. University of Helsinki, Finland
24. ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC), Peenya, Malaysia
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