"Do things yourself. Do not indulge in short-cuts by importing equipment," the scientist thundered after the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998.
At the Andhra coast, a  pencil-shaped rocket lifts and heads to the heavens on July 18, 1980,. India become onlythe sixth country in the   world capable of launching satellites. A long white haired scientist who headed the project team is  felicitated.  On  February 25, 1988,  A phallus-shaped missile takes off from the coast of Orissa and blazes across the firmament. India joins the select club of nations capable of making ballistic missiles. The  scientist,  triumphantly carried on the shoulders of his colleagues. May 11, 1998: A Gorkha hat hides his long hair in his disguise as an army officer in the Rajasthan desert. Then the earth shakes and with it, the world as India conducts a series of underground tests. The scientist is lauded as the  guiding force behind the nuclear- weapons programme.
 Dreams are important for the scientist whose name is as long as his achievements: Avul Pakir Jainulabddin Abdul  Kalam. He described as "200 per cent Indian" by colleagues, has done the country proud on many fronts. India's Missile Man  says simply,"Dream dreams because dreams lead to thought and thought leads to action." In his case it  has always led to extraordinary action.  Many of his peers twit him for bombastic statements and for shifting targets in whatever he achieved. They question  both his scientific and intellectual acumen. Or scoff that all his doctoral degrees are honorary. But science is not all about formulas and test tubes. Or just plain genius. It's also about converting ideas into concrete realities that revolutionise the way we live or think about ourselves. However illogical this may seem, it is also about instinct,  innovation and sheer perspiration. Kalam is an inspirational figure not just because he demonstrates that merit can succeed and thrive amidst so much
cynicism and nepotism. Or that among a people riven with religious strife, a Muslim could head India's most sensitive  defence projects. More important Kalam's achievement is of an integrator of science who from an apparently mediocre  team churned out awesome excellence. In short, he delivered.

 He born to a  poor boat-owner's family at Ramnathapuram,Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram district of Tamil Nadu., Kalam sold newspapers to pay his fees and pawned his sister's jewellery  to complete a diploma in engineering. Early in life he demonstrated a capacity for hard work and a will to succeed. It is exhausting to track Kalam's progress. In the '60s and '70s he was a trail blazer in the space department. In the   '80s he transformed the Moribund Defence Research and Development Laboratory in Hyderabad into a highly  motivated team. By the '90s Kalam emerged as the czar of Indian science and technology and was awarded the   Bharat Ratna. [ REF: Andhra Online visit-  http://www.andhraonline.com/Greatindians/kalaam.htm]
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam has spent all his life near the three water frontiers of India. The newspaper boy of   Rameswaram coast on the Indian Ocean spent 20 years dreaming of space frontiers  at Thumba space centre on the Arabian Sea. The dreams
 of the next 20 years were mostly conjured up on the shores of the Bay of Bengal at Chandipur where he   test-launched missiles and checked on vehicles that re-enter the atmosphere from space.  The dreamer of these oceanic frontiers is also one of India's frontiersmen in technology. A technology that not only fired Agnis, ignited Prithvis but also can green  the barren lands, provide foods to the starving, and profit in world commerce. A  First World dream for a third world nation. [ Ref:  Vision for a  proud India. The Week Aug.16 1998. Visit: http://www.the-week.com/98aug16/cover.htm] A vegetarian and a teetotaller, Abdul Kalam recites the Quran and the Bhagvad Gita with equal ease and his modesty is evident from the fact that he gives all the credit to his colleagues.
Wings of Fire:  An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam is available on Amazon.com with the cost of $17.50

Other links about him:
 "The most inspiring account I've read in recent years"
Indians of the Century  Great Minds and Spiritual Lights
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Dr K Kasturirangan

A little boy  would stare into the night sky for hours. A cluster of stars — which he later discovered was the Milky Way — would fascinate him endlessly. It was his dream to be an astronomer one day and reach for the moon. The youngster from Ernakulam, Kerala, is today the head honcho of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and an Indian mission to the moon is his latest obsession. Hand-picked and shaped by the vision of Vikram Sarabhai — the pioneer of space science in India — Dr K Kasturirangan drives India’s space programmes from his third floor office in Bangalore’s Antariksh Bhavan. Joining ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC) in 1971,  he became the Director in 1990, Dr. Kasturirangan has held several important positions in the satellite programmes of ISRO starting from the very first Indian Satellite, Aryabhata. He was the Project Director for India's first two experimental earth observation satellites, Bhaskara-I & II and the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite IRS-1A. Dr. Kasturirangan, as Director of ISAC, also oversaw the development of the second generation INSAT spacecrafts (INSAT-2). Dr. Kasturirangan is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (FNA), Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc), National Academy of Sciences of India (FNASc), Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE), Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), Astronomical Society of India (ASI), Life Member of the Indian Physics Association (IPA), Fellow of the Astronautical Society of India and of the National Telematics Forum, and a member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has been awarded as  "Padma Shri" in 1982, "Padma Bhushan" in 1992 and "Padma Vibhushan" in the year 2000 by the Government of India.

According to Rediff On the Net : Information Entertainment Online (REF: http://www.rediff.com/news/sep/29pslv3.htm) "The Kasturirangan magic" has brought success once again -- the seventh in a row. For Dr Krishnasamy Kastrurirangan, success has followed success since he took over as Indian Space Research Organisation chairman on March 31, 1994. Monday's successful launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle-C1, India's first operational flight which injected into orbit IRS-1D, is another feather in the ISRO chief's cap. After Dr Kasturirangan took over, there have been four successful launches including from Sriharikota and three from abroad. The ISRO chief tasted his first success soon after he took over when the advanced Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle put an 114-kg satellite in orbit in May 1994. Five months later, the second developmental mission, PSLV-D2, was launched. It was a complete success placing the IRS-P2 in a polar sun-synchronous orbit on October 15, 1994. This success was reinforced when the third developmental test flight, PSLV-D3, placed a 922-kg IRS-P3 in orbit on March 21 last year. The three successful launches from abroad during Dr Kasturirangan's tenure were: Insat-2C and Insat-2D in December 1995 and June this year respectively from Kourou in French Guyana and IRS-1D in December 1995 from Baikanour in Russia. Since 1971, he has been associated with the country's space programme. he ISRO chief, who is also the Space Commission chairman, has rich and varied experience as researcher, designer and project director of the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore. He has held several important positions in the satellite programmes starting from the first Indian satellite, Aryabhatta. Dr Kasturirangan had also served as director of the two experimental earth observation satellites, Bhaskara 1 and 2. As the director of ISAC from 1990, he oversaw the development of the indigenous second-generation communication satellites, Insat-2A and Insat-2B.

Other links about him:
Dr K. Kasturirangan
The Kasturirangan magic

Professor U R Rao

Member, Space Commission, Department of Space and Chairman, UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Antariksh Bhavan, New BEL Road, Bangalore - 560 094.
Professor Rao, who was born on March 10, 1932, in Admar, Karnataka State, India,  is an internationally renowned space scientist who has made original contribution to the development of space technology in India and its extensive application to communications and remote sensing of natural resources. Professor Rao, who started his career as a Cosmic Ray Scientist, under the late Dr. Vikram Sarabhai,  made valuable contributions to the understanding of interplanetary physics and high energy astronomy, which are acclaimed world wide. Prof. Rao’s experiments on a number of Pioneer and Explorer spacecrafts, led to a complete understanding of the solar cosmic ray phenomena and the electromagnetic state of the interplanetary space.  Prof. U.R.Rao and his group have also carried out extensive work in X-ray and Gamma Ray high-energy astronomy using rocket and satellite borne payloads.
He undertook the responsibility of establishing the Indian Space Programme on an end-to-end basis, while playing an active role in the international arena as a space expert, organizer and visionary over a period of three decades. Professor Rao guided the Space Applications Programme in the areas of communication, distance education, TV broadcasting and remote sensing and was responsible for the launching of the Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development which showed the benefits of space technology at the grass-roots level. After taking charge as Chairman, Space Commission and Secretary, Department of Space in 1984, Prof. Rao accelerated the development of rocker technology, resulting in the successful launch of ASLV rocket in 1992.  He was also responsible for the development of the operational PSLV launch vehicle, which successfully launched a 850 kg satellite into a polar orbit in 1995. Prof. Rao initiated the development of the geostationary launch vehicle GSLV and the development of cryogenic technology in 1991.
During his long and distinguished career Professor Rao has received many honorary doctorate degrees from universities all over the world. He is also a member of many scientific bodies and has published over 250 articles in various scientific and technical journals. He is the author of three books and has edited 10 special editions of CLIODIN, IAF.
As a leading authority in his field, Professor Rao has received many and various important awards. Among them are the Paddya Bhushan in 1976, a very high civilian award of the Indian government; the Yuri Gagarin Award in 1991 ; the Frank J Malina Award of the International Astronautical Federation in 1994; the COSPAR Vikram Sarabhal Medal in 1996 and the G.M.Modi Award in 1997 and 1999. [REF: PROFESSOR U.R.. RAO IS TO PRESIDE OVER THE PLENARY SESSIONS OF UNISPACE III. Visit: http://www.un.org/events/unispace3/infmedia/19raonote.htm]
DR U.R.RAO, has been awarded the Lifetime Contribution Award in Engineering for 2001 by the Indian National Academy of Engineering. The award, which will be presented on December 28 during the Academy's annual function, is given in recognition of Dr Rao's outstanding contributions to space technology in India, a DoS release said. Dr Rao is the ninth recipient of the award and joins an elite club which includes Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Dr Satish Dhawan and Dr Homi Sethna.

Other links about him:
Publications
IT-Kerala.com  2000 IT- Kerala Nov. 23-26
Tributes : NAL salutes its former Directors, elders, well-wishers, friends and   retired colleagues

Prof. Satish Dhawan

with Prof Ramaseshan (left) at a NAL party in the 1970's (By Courtesy: http://www.cmmacs.ernet.in/nal/pages/tribute.htm#dhawan)

Prof. Satish Dhawan - His  Primary Work Institution: Space Commission, Government of India,  Retired. He was elected for Primary Membership Section: 01. Aerospace Engineering during 1978 and become a leading figure in  aerospace research and education and achievement in  management of space applications and development programs. Professor Dhawan has moulded the development of science and  technology in India for half a century. As Chairman, Space  Commission and Secretary, Department of Space, Professor  Dhawan led the Indian space programme to an astonishing state of  maturity. In doing so he provided a model for the country on how to  define, formulate and organise high technology projects, and  deliver sophisticated products within stipulated time frames. As  Director, Indian Institute of Science, Professor Dhawan led the  Indian scientific community to newer heights of success, achievement and eminence.

Other links about him:

Tributes : NAL salutes its former Directors, elders, well-wishers, friends and   retired colleagues

Brahm Prakash

The late Dr. Brahm Prakash is, perhaps, not a name that the average person will recognise. An outstanding scientist, an inspiring leader and a self-effacing person, Dr. Brahm Prakash left an indelible mark on those he worked with. He was the first Indian to head the Indian Institute of Science's Department of Metallurgy. Under his leadership the Atomic Energy's Metallurgy group developed techniques for the extraction and fabrication of a variety of nuclear grade metals. Subsequently, he became the first Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Thiruvananthapuram and oversaw the launch vehicle programme, leading to the launch of India's first launch vehicle, SLV-3.  Dr. Kasturirangan said Dr. Brahm Prakash was a titan who laid the foundations for making India one of the few countries capable of building and launching its own satellites. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which was successfully launched earlier this year, was the legacy of Dr. Brahm Prakash.
[REF: The Hindu Wednesday, August 22, 2001 Visit : http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/08/22/stories/0222000k.htm]

Professor Roddam Narasimha

Prof Narasimha basically an aero-space scientist with a strong interest in atmospheric problems.  He has spent most of his professional life at the Indian Institute of Science (1970-1998 ) and National Aerospace Laboratories (1984-93 ), Bangalore.  Prof Narasimha now head a multi-disciplinary institute called the National Institute  of Advanced Studies, at Bangalore. He is Member of the Space Commission and the National Security Advisory Board, Fellow of the Royal Society; 1992,  Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Engineering; 1989, Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; 1999. His Research Interests on Fluid mechanics, Aerospace engineering, Atmospheric sciences. He born  20 July 1933, in Bangalore. Studied at  Univ. of Mysore, complited BE  in 1953; IISC, Bangalore: Dip. in Aeronauti-cal Engg.1955, became Associate in 1957; California Inst. of Tech and complited his PhD in 1961. He started his career as Dept. of Aerospace Engg., IISC, Bangalore, National Inst. of Sc., Jr. Fellow 55-57, Asst. Prof. 62-67, Assoc. Prof. 67-70, Prof. 70-94. Prof. Narasimha won  Bhatnagar Award in 1976; Padmabhushan in 1987, for his contribution on Sc. Work in Fluid Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering and Atmospheric Sciences. He  Contributed in a large way to improve understanding of flows in transition from laminar to turbulent state and the reverse. Developed a widely used model for the intermittency distribution in the transition zone of a boundary layer.

Other links about him:
Professor R Narasimha : NAL salutes its former Directors, elders, well-wishers, friends and   retired colleagues.