Bhubaneswar: India marked a watershed moment in its scientific explorations as Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was able to soft-land a spacecraft on the lunar South Pole August 23.
Many Odia scientists played crucial roles in the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission that lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, at 2:35pm IST July 14, 2023.
Hailing from tribal-dominated Malkangiri district, Jayant Kumar Haldar worked as a senior scientist at Mechanism Department in Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram and made his valuable contributions to the ISRO’s mission to the moon.
Another top Odia mind Atal Krushna Khatua from Keonjhar town has been working with ISRO for more than 10 years. According to a source, Khatua was involved in the task of producing cryogenic engines.
Similarly, Nagaraju Kakinada from Berhampur has been working at the esteemed space research centre for the last six years and played his part in the moon mission.
Thirty-eight-year-old Sushil Kumar Nayak from Kendrapara district was posted at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. Sushil made his contributions to programming and launching of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. He was recruited by ISRO in 2009.
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Two other Odia scientists who have been a part of this ambitious mission are Debashis Mahapatra from Berhampur and Sarat Kumar Das, who is a native of Dhenkanal district.
Sarat– who works as the group director of the component quality assessment group – used to certify the electronics components that were used in Chandrayaan-3.
Debashis works as a senior scientist in rocket firing section. He has been working with the ISRO since 2006.
Friends, family, villagers as well as people all across Odisha are proud of these brilliant technologists who played their important parts in making India’s mission to the moon a great success.
PNN