S. Somanath | |
---|---|
10th Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation | |
Assumed office 15 January 2022 | |
Preceded by | K. Sivan |
Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre | |
In office 24 January 2018 –14 January 2022 | |
Preceded by | K. Sivan |
Succeeded by | S. Unnikrishnan Nair [1] |
Director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre | |
In office 1 January 2015 –23 January 2018 | |
Preceded by | K. Sivan |
Succeeded by | V. Narayanan |
Personal details | |
Born | July 1963 (age 60) Thuravoor,Cherthala,Kerala,India |
Spouse | Valsalakumari |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering (B.Tech.,Mechanical Engineering). Indian Institute of Science,Bengaluru (M.Tech.,Aerospace Engineering). |
Sreedhara Panicker Somanath (born July 1963) is an Indian aerospace engineer serving as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). [2] Under his chairmanship,ISRO carried out the third Indian lunar exploration mission named Chandrayaan-3. The lander named Vikram and the rover named Pragyan landed near the lunar south pole region on 23 August 2023 at 18:04 IST,making India the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the lunar south pole and the fourth country to demonstrate soft landing on the Moon. [3] [4] [5] [6]
Somanath served as the director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,Thiruvananthapuram and director of Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre,Thiruvananthapuram. [7] [8] Somanath is known for his contributions to launch vehicle design,particularly in the areas of launch vehicle systems engineering,structural design,structural dynamics,and pyrotechnics. [9] [10]
Somanath was born in a Malayali Nair family [11] as child of V. Sreedhara Panicker,a Hindi teacher,and Thankamma in Thuravoor in Alappuzha district of Kerala. [12]
Somanath did his schooling at St. Augustine's High School,Aroor and completed his pre-university program from Maharaja's College,Ernakulam. He received his graduate degree in mechanical engineering from Thangal Kunju Musaliar College of Engineering,Kollam,Kerala University and a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore with specialization in dynamics and control. He has a Ph.D. thesis at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras(IIT Madras). [13]
Somanath is married to Valsala,and has a daughter and a son. [14]
After his graduation,Somanath joined the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1985. He was associated with the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle project during its initial phase. He became associate director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the project director of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III launch vehicle in 2010. He was also the deputy director of the Propulsion and Space Ordnance Entity till November 2014. [9]
In June 2015,he took over as director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Valiamala,Thiruvananthapuram and served until January 2018. Somanath took over as director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre from K. Sivan who became chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation. In January 2022,he took over as the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation,again succeeding K. Sivan.
In recognition of his contributions to the field of science,Somanath was awarded a Doctorate of Science (Honoris Causa) on 25 September by SRM Institute of Science and Technology,Tamil Nadu,on the occasion of the 18th Annual Convocation. [15] [16] On 23 August 2023,he as ISRO chairman spearheaded the soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the South Pole of the lunar surface along with other notable senior ISRO scientists.
Uttarakhand Technical University conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt.) on him during its 7th convocation held on October 10,2023. [17]
In 2014,S Somnath received performance excellence award for GSLV Mk-III realization from ISRO. [18] [19] [20] In 2023,the Government of Karnataka felicitated him with the prestigious Rajyotsava award. [21] [22]
Indian Space Research Organisation is the national space agency of India. It operates as the primary research and development arm of the Department of Space (DoS),which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India while the Chairman of ISRO also acts as the executive of DoS.
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The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) is a major space research centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO),focusing on rocket and space vehicles for India's satellite programme. It is located in Trivandrum,in the Indian state of Kerala.
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The Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC),Thiruvananthapuram is a research and development centre functioning under Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It has two units located at Valiamala,in Thiruvananthapuram of Kerala,and Bengaluru of Karnataka. LPSC is augmented by ISRO Propulsion Complex at Mahendragiri of Tamil Nadu.
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Chandrayaan-2 is the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after Chandrayaan-1. It consists of a lunar orbiter,the Vikram lunar lander,and the Pragyan rover,all of which were developed in India. The main scientific objective is to map and study the variations in lunar surface composition,as well as the location and abundance of lunar water.
Gaganyaan is an Indian crewed orbital spacecraft intended to be the formative spacecraft of the Indian Human Spaceflight Programme. The spacecraft is being designed to carry three people,and a planned upgraded version will be equipped with rendezvous and docking capabilities. In its maiden crewed mission,the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s largely autonomous 5.3-metric ton capsule will orbit the Earth at 400 km altitude for up to seven days with a two- or three-person crew on board. The first crewed mission was originally planned to be launched on ISRO's HLVM3 rocket in December 2021. As of October 2023,it is expected to be launched by 2025.
The chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation is the statutory head of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The officeholder is a secretary to the Government of India and an executive of the Department of Space (DOS) which directly reports to the prime minister of India.
Koppillil Radhakrishnan is an Indian space scientist who headed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as Chairman of Space Commission,Secretary of the Department of Space,Government of India. Under his leadership,India became the first country to reach Mars in its first attempt.
Parivakkam Subramaniam Veeraraghavan is a well known space scientist and rocket technologist of India. He has served as the Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC),Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala and as the Director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU),Thiruvananthapuram. One of the most senior scientists at Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO),Veeraraghavan is known for his contributions to launch vehicle technology,especially in the areas of integration &checkout and Inertial Systems of ISROs launch vehicles. Presently,he is holding the honorary position of Prof. Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor in VSSC,ISRO since January 2013.
Vipparthi Adimurthy is the ISRO Honorary Distinguished Professor,VSSC. He was the former Satish Dhawan Professor and Dean of Research at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST). Prior to joining IIST,Adimurthy held the post of associate director at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,a major facility center of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is known for his contributions to the rocket technology and space dynamics. He is a recipient of Padma Shri from the Government of India. Murthy is the Mission Concept Designer,for India's Mars Orbiter Mission.
The Chandrayaan programme also known as the Indian Lunar Exploration Programme is an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the exploration of the Moon. The program incorporates a lunar orbiter,an impactor,a soft lander and a rover spacecraft.
Mars Orbiter Mission 2 or Mangalyaan-2,is a proposed second mission to Mars by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Sivan Kailasavadivu is an Indian aerospace engineer who served as the Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) and Space Commission. He has previously served as the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center and the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
Pragyan is a lunar rover that forms part of Chandrayaan-3,a lunar mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission in the Chandrayaan programme,a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission consists of a Vikram lunar lander and a Pragyan lunar rover was launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 14 July 2023. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on 5 August,and India became the first country to touch down near the lunar south pole,at 69°S,the southernmost lunar landing on 23 August 2023 at 18:03 IST,made ISRO the fourth space agency to successfully land on the Moon,after Roscosmos,NASA,and the CNSA. The lander was not built to withstand the cold temperatures of the lunar night,and sunset over the landing site ended the surface mission twelve days after landing. The propulsion module,still operational,transited back to a high Earth orbit from lunar orbit on 22 November 2023 for continued scientific observations of Earth.
Chandrayaan-4 is a planned lunar sample-return mission and the fourth mission in the Chandrayaan programme,a series of lunar-exploration missions developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission is currently under conceptualisation phase and is slated for launch no earlier than 2028.
Statio Shiv Shakti or Shiv Shakti Point is the landing site of Chandrayaan-3,the third lunar mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The mission's lander Vikram and rover Pragyan landed 600 km from the south pole of the Moon on 23 August 2023. The landing site was named on 26 August 2023 at the ISTRAC headquarters in Bengaluru,after India became the fourth nation to make a successful soft landing on the Moon and also becoming the first country that landed on the lunar south pole. Statio Shiv Shakti is located at the coordinates 69.373°S 32.319°E and lies between the lunar craters Manzinus C and Simpelius N. It has been proposed that the upcoming sample-return mission Chandrayaan-4 also land near the point.