OBITUARY UR Rao a Life Dedicated to ISRO

OBITUARY UR Rao A Life Dedicated to ISRO

R. ARAVAMUDAN

ROFESSOR Udupi Ramachandra Rao, or UR Rao as he was Ppopularly known, passed away on 24 July, 2017 at Bangalore. He was 85. He was one of those who spent their lifetimes to turn India into a world class Space Power. Hailing from a remote village in Karnataka, he fi nished his schooling and college education in small towns before completing his Masters in Physics from the Banaras Hindu University. He then registered under the illustrious Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, who had started his own scientific laboratory, the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad. His fi eld of research was Galactic Cosmic Rays in which he was awarded a PhD in 1960. Shortly thereafter he moved to MIT in USA University and was publishing the results This was a period of frenetic activity for where in association with the JPL in reputed journals. Prof. Rao since with meagre facilities group on cosmic ray studies he did Meanwhile, Dr. Sarabhai had and relatively inexperienced engineers, considerable work in this fi eld using the started launch vehicle and satellite he had committed to building India’s NASA, Pioneer and Explorer spacecraft developmental activities at Thumba and first ever satellite, later christened data. around 1970 asked Prof. Rao to lead Aryabhatta, to be launched by the This was the time in 1963 that, in a group to take up the development erstwhile Soviet Union. Prof. Rao’s team spite of a promising career in the US, he of satellites. This activity was located worked round the clock to complete the was motivated by Dr. Vikram Sarabhai initially at Trivandrum. satellite and transport it to Baikanour to return to India and help him start the The end of 1971 saw the untimely from where it was successfully launched development of Space Research in India. demise of Dr. Sarabhai and a little on 19 April 1975. My personal association with Prof. later Prof. Rao shifted this activity to The satellite building activity Rao started at this time in 1963 when I Bangalore which had better infrastructure increased in momentum and a brand had moved to Thumba near Trivandrum for specialised electronic fabrication and new campus was built for the ISRO after spending a year at NASA training testing. Thus was born the ISRO Satellite Satellite Centre (ISAC) near the National in the setting up and operating of a Centre which was temporarily housed in Aeronautical Laboratory in Domlur. rocket launching facility. My expertise a couple of industrial sheds in Peenya, Over the decade, Prof. Rao oversaw the was in telemetry and tracking. At that at the outskirts of Bangalore. successful construction, launching and time Prof. Rao was building sounding After Sarabhai, the task of steering commissioning of a variety of spacecraft rocket payloads for studying X-ray stars ISRO was entrusted to Prof. Satish built at this Centre. in the sky and I was helping him with Dhawan, an aeronautical engineer, When Prof. Dhawan retired in collecting the data by telemetry and although Prof. MGK Menon held 1984, the mantle fell on Prof. Rao to processing them. He was collaborating temporary charge until Dhawan could take over the Chairmanship of ISRO with Japanese scientists from Tokyo return from the US after a few months. and he continued in this capacity till

34 SCIENCE REPORTER September 2017 his retirement in 1994. This was a tumultuous period in the history of ISRO. There was a rapid growth in the organisation. Major ISRO Centres at different locations in India started functioning earnestly, engaged in developing various elements of Space Technology. The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Trivandrum, by far the largest centre of ISRO, was working on launch vehicle technology, while the ISRO Satellite Centre was building spacecraft. The Launch Centre at Sriharikota was gearing up for major satellite launches and the Space Application Centre at Ahmedabad was developing spacecraft payloads and applications. There were other Centres in Valiyamala, Nagercoil, Alwaye, etc. carrying out space related break, even after his retirement. ...the generations of scientists work, in addition to the Industry. Personally, it was he who appointed and engineers he had created Spacecraft carrying communication, me the Director of the Sriharikota and deeply motivated during remote sensing and other payloads were Launch Facility and moved me to built and successfully orbited during this Sriharikota after 25 years of work in his life would continue to period, using launch vehicles of other launch vehicle technology at the Vikram carry forward his vision and countries from locations like Baikanour, Sarabhai Space Centre in Trivandrum ensure that ISRO remains the Kourou, etc. Many departments of and guided me in converting the launch organisation of excellence that the Government and other agencies base into a world class Space Port during made use of these satellites for Direct its crucial years. Later when he retired in it has turned out to be. Television, communication, remote 1994, I moved to ISAC as its Director, International Astronautical Federation resource survey, meteorology, etc. but all through those years he was always Hall of Fame Award are only a few of around, advising and guiding whenever The most important challenge for those received by him and it would need needed. Prof. Rao, as Chairman ISRO, was in a number of pages to list them all over From 1994 to 2017, he could never the fi eld of Launch Vehicle development. the years and the important scientifi c be parted from ISRO. He continued as a The initial launchings of ASLV and bodies he was a member of. PSLV failed leading to a great deal member of the Space Commission and Indeed a huge void has been created of disappointment and distress among Chairman of PRL council with his offi ce in the fi eld of Space Research because of the staff and the general public. It was at the ISRO Head Quarters, Bangalore, his passing away. But the generations of to his credit that the morale of the where he was present without fail from scientists and engineers he had created development teams and the funding early morning to evening on every and deeply motivated during his life agencies was kept high and the lessons working day, keeping himself abreast would continue to carry forward his learned from the failures were quickly with all the happenings in the fi eld of vision and ensure that ISRO remains turned into improvement of the systems Space and other matters of scientifi c the organisation of excellence that it has and tightening of their reliability. The importance. turned out to be. phenomenal reliability of the PSLV He was always available for Launch Vehicle is a testimony to this consultation with the Chairman of the Mr. R. Aravamudan is an ISRO pioneer who spirit. time, only a few steps away from the has been Director of the Satish Dhawan Space A tireless worker, he led by Chairman’s offi ce. This habit, he kept Centre at Sriharikota and the ISRO Satellite example and extracted the best from his alive till a few days before his passing Centre Bangalore. He was the fi rst of Dr. Vikram colleagues. He brooked no nonsense away! Sarabhai’s hand-picked engineers to join India’s from anyone but was always sensitive Many were the honours and space programme even before it started. He was one among the pioneers who made the Thumba to the feelings of his associates. During accolades he received during his Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) his tenure he built a strong team of lifetime. Countless number of honorary operational, eventually taking over as its Director. specialists who could carry forward the doctorates, induction into halls of fame, He is author of the book “ISRO: A Personal History” ambitious programmes of ISRO without awards, etc. Padma Vibhushan, and published by Harper Collins in 2017.

35 SCIENCE REPORTER September 2017