- Talk-Thought - Shishir Ramavat

- They have nothing to do with glamor or high profile life style. They have astonishing simplicity, world-class intelligence and enormous loyalty.

It's time to stop valuing these insubstantial celebrities and give these amazing scientists a higher place in our mental empire.

- (top row, from left) S. Somnath, S. Unnikrishnan Nair, M. Vanita, B.N. Ramakrishna, (bottom row, from left) V. Narayanan, M. Sankaran, P. Weeramuthuvel and Kalpana Kalahasti

We should never get over the positive hangover of the frenzy that the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission has created across the country. This space mission has awakened the scientific consciousness of the country. A whole rainbow of magnificent men and women to whom the words hero and role model have to be applied in the most literal sense have come before us in the form of scientists. Eye-popping glamour, high profile lifestyle, constant media exposure or going viral... what does all this have to do with being a role model? Not at all. We have to know in detail about the key space scientists who have made India's chest swell and take inspiration from them. Come, let's meet.

Let's start S. From Somnath. This veteran aerospace engineer became the chairman of ISRO just last year. Chandrayaan-3 was launched into orbit by a launch vehicle named Mark-3. In designing this launch vehicle, S. Somnath has done important work.

S. Somnath (60 years) is a Keralite. His father V. Sridhar Panikar had a great name as a teacher of Hindi in his time. After twelfth standard, he took admission in TKM College of Engineering in Kollam, Kerala and obtained his B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering. After that M.Tech with Aerospace Engineering from IIS (Indian Institute of Science) in Bengaluru. did After completing his education, he did his first job in 1985 at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Gradually he progressed in his career and today he is working at the top position of ISRO. Before the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3, the devotee S. who went to the temple and prayed to God. We even saw Somnath dancing his heart out in the glittering disco lights the same night after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3!

P. Veeramuthuvel (47 years) is the Project Director of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. How straightforward is the background of such a great space scientist. His father P. Palenival worked as a technician in Southern Railway for 30 years. Even today the family lives in the railway quarter of the town called Villupuram. Weeramuthuvel studied in a modest railway school in the same town. Then got a diploma in mechanical engineering from a private polytechnic college. After that graduated from an engineering college in Chennai, M.E. from NIT-Trichy. (Masters of Engineering) and then a doctorate from IIT-Madras. He did his first job in a company named Lakshmi Engineering in Coimbatore. He then joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (Bangalore) and later became part of ISRO. On one side he was working on different projects including Mars obter mission and on the other side he was studying Ph.D. after taking admission in IIT-Madras. If you have passion, discipline and the ability to work hard, you can study alongside a full-time job. Diploma students are often looked down upon and ridiculed by engineering degree course students, but if a polytechnic college student has the grit of Veeramuthuvel, he can go ahead and become the country's top space scientist!

S. Mohnakumar is the Mission Director of Chandrayaan-3. He is responsible for the planning of Chandrayaan-3 from planning to execution, to supervise the movement from launch to landing and then whether or not the Pragyan rover moves properly on the lunar surface. He led a team of about one thousand scientists and engineers working in Vikram Sarabhai Space Center and different centers of ISRO. S. Mohnakumar is an engineer from IIT-Madras and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science. have done

like this. Shankaran (52 years) is the director of the US Rao Satellite Center. The design and development of ISRO's satellites is done in this centre. During his 35-year long tenure, Shankaransaheb has contributed a lot in solar arrays, power systems, satellite positioning systems, etc. Talking about his education, from the University of Tiruchirappalli, he did his M.Sc. have done

Now Dr. Meet S Unnikrishnan Nair. He is a leading space scientist as well as the director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. Here's the funny thing: He's also a storyteller. He has written many short stories in Malayalam! Dr. S. Unnikrishnan also has a background in mechanical engineering. He did his B.Tech from MAR College, Kerala University. have done Then M.E. in Aerospace Engineering from IISC - Bengaluru. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Madras. In 1985, he joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. Currently he is the director of this organization. He is also the director of the Bengaluru-based Human Space Flight Center working on the Gaganyaan programme. He has done significant work in the areas of launch vehicle mechanisms, acoustic protection systems and payload fairing. He has been instrumental in developing the aerospace systems of Indian rockets such as PSLV, GSSV and SVM-3. Unnikrishnan's computer engineer wife Jaya Nair was also working in VSSC earlier.

54 women scientists or engineers who look like a member of our family in a saree or salwar kameez are directly involved in the Chandrayaan-3 project. These women have performed very responsible work in different teams. For example, Kalpana Kalahasti (42 years) is the Deputy Project Director. Kalpana Kalahasti's dedication and leadership is the major reason why the project did not slow down even during the Covid period. He has been a part of the Mangalyaan mission. He has done aeronautical engineering from IIT-Kharagpur. He joined ISRO in 2003. From propulsion systems essential for precise satellite positioning to advanced imaging equipment that sends high-resolution images back to Earth, Kalpanaji has excelled. like this. Vanitha is a Bengaluru-based UR. Rao is the Deputy Director of the Satellite Centre.

Like Kalpana Kalahasti V. Narayanan also studied at IIT-Khadagpur. He is the director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Center. Their specialty is in the manufacture of cryogenic engines. The Vikram lander was able to make a soft landing on the lunar surface as expected, as its thrusters were working well. These thrusters V. Prepared under the supervision of Narayanan. B.N. Ramakrishna is the Director of ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network.

Going through the details of these and the scientists not mentioned here, it is clear that it is not necessary to be a part of ISRO's successful mission if you have studied in the top schools and colleges of all-out India and are an IIT pass-out engineer. In addition to the required educational qualification, talent, intelligence and discipline-hard-work-dedication can gradually advance in the space science community of India. It is certain that other disciplines related to aeronautical engineering and space science have come to light in the wake of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.