The Moon Man of India on new opportunities for space tech entrepreneurs, the possibility of human colonies on the Moon and Mars, and the likelihood of life in the Universe
Mylswamy Annadurai, former director at the ISRO Satellite Centre
Image: Selvaprakash Lakshmanan for Forbes India
A world-renowned space scientist, fondly known as the Moon Man of India, Mylswamy Annadurai, former director at the ISRO Satellite Centre, led iconic space missions like Chandrayaan 1, Mangalyaan, and Chandrayaan 2, and paved the way for India to join the ranks of space-faring nations. Annadurai's team at ISRO changed the course of space research with the revolutionary discovery of water on the Moon and the successful launch of a mission to Mars in the first attempt. In an exclusive conversation on Forbes India Pathbreakers, Annadurai talks on a range of issues including opportunities for space tech entrepreneurs, the possibility of human colonies on the Moon and Mars, the discovery of exoplanets, and the likelihood of life in the Universe. Edited excerpts from the conversation:
However, the space scientist points out, many developed countries like USA, Russia, Japan, and Europe had attempted this in the past. To execute the idea, the team at ISRO would have to rejig the hardware developed for a mission to the Moon to go to Mars instead.
“This was a tall order requirement and the time available from start to finish was only 14 months. From time to budget to technology it was a tall order. We took this challenge and when we launched the mission in September 2014, we became the first country to successfully launch a satellite in the Mars orbit in our first attempt and under very modest circumstances. This re-triggered the imagination of Indians and other countries also looked up to us. This helped us launch a good number of satellites commercially for other countries. In this way Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan missions gave a face to India’s space programme and gave India’s youth the belief that this can be done in the country,” he reminisces.