Every Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) mission is the result of the team effort by hundreds of scientists and engineers.
Some of the Keralite scientists in Team ISRO have played lead roles in making Chandrayaan-2, India’s challenging second mission to the moon, a reality.
S. Somanath, who belongs to Cherthala heads the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the ISRO facility is responsible for the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark-III (GSLV Mk-III) which will place the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft in earth orbit.
Mr. Somanath has been involved in the GSLV Mk-III project from its inception and was also mission director of the December 18, 2014, LVM3-X/CARE experiment.
The mission director for the GSLV Mk-III/Chandrayaan-2 mission is J. Jayaprakash, who hails from Paripally, Kollam. An alumnus of Madras Institute of Technology, Fatima Matha National College, Kollam; and the IISc Bangalore, Mr. Jayaprakash had joined the VSSC in 1985.
K.C. Raghunatha Pillai is the vehicle director for the Chandrayaan-2 mission. Hailing from Vayyatupuzha, Pathanamthitta, he started his career as project engineer in INSAT-2A programme at the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad. He has done M.Tech. in cryogenics from IIT Kharagpur.
P.M. Abraham, who hails from Malappally in Pathanamthitta disrtrict, is the associate vehicle director for the mission. He did his B.Tech. at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, and M.Tech. at the IIT Delhi. His wife Helen Basil is an engineer in VSSC.
The associate project director for the Chandrayaan-2 mission is another CET alumnus, G. Narayanan. He belongs to Sreenagar, Thiruvananthapuram.
P. Kunhikrishnan, the director of the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre was responsible for the realisation of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the VSSC said. He is a past director of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. He was also mission director for 13 missions of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). His wife, Girija, is an engineer in VSSC.
