Former head of ISRA to Kasturirangan when publishing the book “Life in Science”, Indian Institute of Science in Bengalur. File | Photo Credit: PTI
K. Kasturirangan, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRA), who died in Bengalur, was once known as the “chairman of the golden fingers” in the ISRO community, G. Madhavan Nair, who replaced him in 2003.
Dr. Kasturirangan was a “very careful person” who had done an excellent work by the chairman during the nine -year period since 1994 that he was at the helm, said Dr. Madhavan Nair Hindu.
During this period, ISRO performed a number of missions that were all successful. “It wasn’t lucky. He was a very careful person, someone who had never left anything by accident. He went to the details of every thing, analyzed and assured that all the data was collected. If he wasn’t fully satisfied, he never gave a guide,” Madhavan Nair.
Alumnus Secondary School of Sree Rama Varma in Ernacula was Dr. Kasturirangan part of the Indian space program from the first days. He was the project director for the first two experimental satellites for the country’s observation, Bhaskara-I and Bhaskara-II, and later the first surgical Indian satellite with remote survey IRS-1A.
Before that was Dr. Kasturirangan at the end of the sixties, where he first met him with a researcher in a physical research laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
Dr. Madhavan Nair remembers that the space agency has undergone a hard phase when Dr. Kasturirangan took over from ur Rao as chairman in 1994.
“The first start of the polar satellite starting vehicle (PSLV D1 in September 1993), in the last stage of Prof. Ra’s tenure, was not successful. So it fell on Dr. Kasturirangan to believe that PsLV would become a success.
Greater problems were cooked in the form of the ISRO Spionage case of 1994, when many higher scientists were accused of selling the secrets of space technology. It also escalated to a full -fledged political controversy in Kerala. Although he subsequently declared a fancy, the case played confusion with the lives of accused scientists and the moral of the space agency.
According to Dr. Madhavana Naira was exposed to the predetermination of Dr. Kasturirangana.
“He tried to look at the inner details. He performed all reviews and did a job quietly. After reassuring that there was no espionage, he acted, spoke to (then Prime Minister) PV Narasimha Rao and made sure the CBI came to the picture,” Madhavan Nair. “It was his nature, he did it quietly and managed the situation well.”
He also descended to Thiruvananthapurama and spoke with the ISRO staff in Veli and Valiala units, in an effort to strengthen their morality, recalls Dr. Madhavan Nair.
Published – April 25, 2025 21:10
