COVER STORY

The men behind the mission

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN

Dr.K. Kasturirangan,
ISRO Chairman

Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan took over as Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in April 1994. Under his leadership, the country's space programme witnessed the successful launch and operationalisation of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). He oversaw the design, development and launching of the world's best remote-sensing satellites, IRS-1C and 1D.

K. BHAGYA PRAKASH

Before Kasturirangan took over as ISRO Chairman, he was Director, ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, where he oversaw activities related to the development of the second-generation INSATs, the Indian Remote-sensing Satellites (IRS-1A and 1B) and scientific satellites. He was Project Director for India's first two earth observation satellites - Bhaskara I and II. He is also Chairman, Space Commission, and Secretary, Department of Space.

As an astrophysicist, Kasturirangan continues to take interest in research problems in high energy X-ray, gamma ray astronomy and optical astronomy. His most important research contributions are in the area of high energy astronomy and astrophysics.

Dr. P.S. Goel,
Director, ISRO Satellite Centre

Dr. Prem Shanker Goel is the Director of the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore, which builds satellites for India's space missions and is the lead centre for developing satellite technology. The ISAC has built all of India's satellites - from Aryabhata, the first Indian satellite, which was launched in 1975 from Volgograd launch station, to INSAT-2E.

Among the awards that he has received are the special achievement award for Aryabhata (1975), the Hari Om Ashram Prerit Sarabhai Research Award in System Analysis and Management (1983), and the Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Space and Aerospace Technologies (1995).

Goel, 52, told Frontline on March 12 that the ISAC could integrate three satellites at a time. Work was under way on building INSAT-3B. "There is also the GSAT (the geo-stationary satellite, which is being built by the ISAC). It will go up from our soil using our vehicle," he said.

Dr. S. Rangarajan,
Director, MCF, and Director, INSAT Programme

Following the launch of INSAT-2E, attention is focussed on the Master Control Facility (MCF) near Hassan, 220 km from Bangalore, which controls, commands and tracks the satellite.

T.L.PRABHAKAR

Dr. S. Rangarajan joined ISRO in 1978 and worked for satellite missions, including the Bhaskara, APPLE (Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment), IRS and SROSS (Stretched Rohini Satellite Series). He has contributed significantly in the areas of digital signal processing and expert system development for satellite operations.

A.K.S. Gopalan,
Director, Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad

A.K.S. Gopalan is the Director of the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad. The main activities of this centre are in the field of communications and remote-sensing; it was responsible for the realisation of the communication payload for INSAT-2D and both communication and meteorologial payloads for INSAT-2E. Between 1989 and 1995, when Gopalan was the Director of the Advanced Data Processing Research Institute of the Department of Space in Hyderabad, he directed research and development in the areas of image analysis, geographic information systems, photogrammetry/cartography, expert systems/artificial intelligence, microwave remote sensing and so forth. He was earlier Deputy Director of Remote-Sensing at the Space Applications Centre. Gopalan joined ISRO in 1970 and worked in the field of space communications until 1974.

G. Madhavan Nair,
Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre

T.A.HAFEEZ

G. Madhavan Nair is the Director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) of the ISRO at Valiamala, about 20 km from Thiruvananthapuram. The LPSC makes the propulsion system for the Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) for INSAT-2E, which takes the spacecraft from the oval geostationary transfer orbit to the circular geostationary orbit. It also develops the attitude control thrusters used on board INSAT-2E, which would maintain the satellite orientation so that it would look towards the earth.

Madhavan Nair told Frontline that both the LAM and the attitude control thrusters used bipropellant systems, which are " state-of-the-art and as good as what is available in other countries."

N. Vedachalam,
Director, ISRO Inertial Systems Unit

N. Vedachalam is the Director of the ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU), situated at Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvanantha-puram, which is responsible for fabricating the inertial systems for INSAT-2E. These include the momentum wheel, the attitude reference unit, and the solar array deployment mechanism, which are important elements on board the satellite.