DR K Sivan, Chairman, ISRO, also known as “Rocket Man”, who has made a pioneering contribution, talks to Prashanth Vaidyaraj, Bureau Chief in Bengaluru, about it all. His life and his journey as a scientist. Excerpts:
Tell us a bit about your journey from childhood to ISRO ?
I come from a village which is near Nagercoil. We are traditionally an agricultural family. My education till 12th standard was in Tamil medium in school and colleges nearer to our village. This was because my father thought that if the school and college are closer to the residence I could help him in agriculture. However, my uncle and my teacher directed me to join Madras Institute of Technology for higher studies. After graduating from MIT I joined IISC and later joined VSSC from where my present career took off.
While in the village we did not dream big and never dreamt beyond becoming a teacher. I never thought that I would become an aeronautical engineer. While playing in our paddy fields I used to watch the aeroplanes flying from the Trivandrum airport and the thought of becoming an aeronautical engineer had triggered at a corner of my mind but I never took it seriously as an ambition.
In BSc, I scored 100 in all four core subjects which paved my path to enter MIT. After my PUC I wanted to pursue engineering but my father was misguided by people who said that a lower caste boy will not be able to cope up with engineering. It was then that I was forced to join B.Sc. After B.Sc, my uncle and my professor in college guided me to join MIT. But to pay the fees my mother had to sell her jewels and we had to sell our lands too.
Later in my career, I joined VSSC where I was part of the PSLV team which had giants like Madhavan Nair, Srinivasan, Dr Suresh who guided us. Subsequently, I came to be part of GSLV project which saw several failures initially and everyone thought that my career had come to an end. But our determination saw that GSLV was a success and my career too took a turn to the position I hold today. As I see, whatever came my way has been a blessing in disguise.
Your work on Cryogenic engines earned you the moniker ‘Rocket Man’. What is it all about? Are we completely independent for any future use of Cryogenic engines for all stages of GSLV?
A large multistage rocket needs cryogenic engines. The specific impulse of the cryogenic engine is one and a half times larger than that of the conventional rocket fuel. The importance of cryogenic engine has been showcased in our GSLV. To place a 2.2-ton payload using GSLV, the weight of the vehicle with a cryogenic stage would be around 450 tons. The same vehicle without a cryogenic stage and using conventional liquid engine stage would weigh around 1200 tons. With cryogenics, the vehicle becomes compact and we can aim at bigger payloads. Countries like USA, Russia, China were able to achieve bigger payloads only by using cryogenic stages.
The cryogenic engine will have the propellant in liquid form at very low temperatures of -2500C. Our challenge was to retain the low temperatures of the fuel throughout the journey and also ensure that no impurities enter the system. We also had to design a pump with very high RPM of about 40000 to feed the low-density fuel to the engine. The power generated by one such pump is equal to the energy of 28 railway engines. Designing a proper ignition system was another challenge. It was because of such complex systems that none of the countries was ready to share the technology. We initially failed but once I took over the project, we put the entire system on the right track. Today we are self-sufficient in cryogenic engine technology.
You have been a pioneer in ISRO developing software like SITARA. You led the RLV-TD project and immensely contributed to PSLV. What drives you and motivates you?
Necessity has been a major driving factor for many projects. For example, while I was working on the PSLV, the software that was used for tracking was time consuming and was not user-friendly. We quickly needed a software that could mitigate these issues and also provide real-time simulation.
How are the preparations for Chandrayaan-2 going on? What will be the focus of Chandrayaan-2?
All the components required for Chandrayaan-2 are ready. Presently the integration is in progress. The Chandrayaan-2 project consists of 3 parts —Orbiter, Lander and Rover. The orbiter will revolve around the moon while the
lander takes care of landing on the moon’s surface. Once landing is complete, the rover emerges out to carry out specific activities. Once integration is over, the entire system will be put under rigorous tests and simulations have to ensure that everything is in place.
We are targeting April 2018 for the launch of Chandyaraan-2 but the dates might extend due to test results. We also need to launch at a specific time and date where we can make use of the 14 earth days and sunlight on the moon to carry out our research. The landing site on the moon is also an important factor that will decide the launch date. Once all these factors coincide, we will be able to launch.
What is the focus of MARS mission and how does the country benefit from it? Are there any plans to set up man-ready space stations or green-houses there?
Much before aiming to take the man to Mars, there are several important objectives that we can achieve from the MARS mission.
Today, space science tells us that there was water present on Mars long back. Several reasons like the atmosphere becoming thin and vanishing of elements are attributed to the disappearance of water on Mars. If we are able to study the phenomenon behind the disappearance of water on Mars, we can learn from it and avoid a similar phenomenon from happening on earth. Study of Mars can as well protect mankind from similar conditions. Earth is the only known planet with intelligent life forms in the universe and we need to safeguard it. Research on Mars may not yield immediate results but a few decades from now, the research findings may be all important for our survival.
Many missions start with a long-term vision. Prof. Vikram Sarabhai had a long-term vision for ISRO and wanted it to launch its own satellites and work on remote sensing.
Today it’s a reality. Hence foresight is important in many missions which may give many tangible results to our next generations.
Given the speed at which space technology is growing, can you imagine that man would be able to travel at the speed of light one day? Also, has ISRO planned to send probes beyond Mars?
I think it will certainly be possible. Earlier we thought the chemical propulsion systems would be enough to reach our targeted speeds. But today we are already talking about laser propulsion systems. Laser propulsion can reach half the speed of light. Once this is established, we will be able to travel to Mars and back in a day just like tra elling between Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram.
Regarding sending probes beyond Mars, our projects are guided by their use for our people. If a project has no impact on our people’s lives, the purpose of ISRO will not be served. Hence we don’t have such plan for the
immediate future.
Are there any initiatives to engage youngsters to learn about ISRO so that they are inspired at a young age? Also are there any plans to introduce Internships and doctoral programmes at ISRO?
There are plans to engage youngsters but not through internships. This is because engineers at ISRO are loaded with work and short-term interns will not help anyone. ISRO will become like a training institute. Instead, we fund and guide students’ projects at several colleges. Students can also approach ISRO through the RESPOND programme (Sponsored Research). They can use our facility for their research and ISRO will even fund them. Colleges and students should use this programme to engage
with ISRO.
Today, we are the masters in the world in launching lightweight satellites. But we are still dependent on other countries for the launching of heavy satellites. What is ISRO planning for that?
It is true that we are dependent on others for the launch of heavy satellites. But we are gradually progressing. Now we have built our own 2-ton launcher for the GSLV. We have started to develop a 4-ton launcher for GSLV Mark III. We will be enhancing the capability of our launch vehicles further to reach 5.7 tons.
Are you satisfied with the support from the governments, both financially and morally? Also, what more support do you expect from the government?
This government is providing all the support needed for ISRO and its projects. In fact, the onus is on us to spend the money provisioned. The government is doing extremely well in continuously supporting us. Our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi has himself taken the initiative to make use of the space technology for the common man of the country. He also chaired our national meet which envisioned projects that can make use of space technology for common people. 159 projects were identified and many among them are in progress already. Likewise, the government is taking a lot of initiatives to impress upon people to make use of the satellite data for agriculture with respect to expected yield of crops, groundwater identification for watershed farming, water management, land utilisation, etc.
How do you answer critics who say that when poverty/malnutrition is rampant, India should spend less on space technology and divert that money for poverty alleviation?
It is unfortunate that such a view is being expressed and it is our mistake if we have not made them understand the importance of our missions. We should understand that the money spent on ISRO missions is a small fraction of the funds spent by government on poverty alleviation programmes. Despite the minuscule funds spent on space programmes, the outcomes and benefits are huge for the country and the society. Let me quote an example.
During the days when we had no satellites, thousands of people used to lose their lives in cyclones and property worth crores was damaged. However, today, owing to the data from our satellites, we are able to prepare in advance and evacuate people and their belongings. In similar cyclone a few years back, we lost 22 people compared to the thousands lost before. Poverty alleviation has to happen in parallel but we also need to prepare ourselves for natural calamities to safeguard our own people.
Satellite data has made the lives of our fisherfolk easier. Identification of our maritime boundaries to avoid going into others’ territory is possible today through the use of NAVIC. Identification of density of fishes in ocean water is also possible today because of our satellites. This has brought high yields for our fishermen. This is being made possible through a dedicated mobile app using data from NAVIC and our remote sensing satellites. Isn’t this helping lives of the common man? Poverty alleviation and the problems of common man are at the centre of all our
missions.
In the era of ‘Make in India’ and need for employment generation, how can ISRO contribute by outsourcing few of its in-house projects to private players?
Most of the technologies that we use are already with the industry. 85 per cent of the GSLV vehicle technology is with the industry today. Employment generation is happening as we talk. If the cost of a launch vehicle is Rs 100 crore, Rs 85 crore worth material and work come from the industry. We have many vendors which also ensures quality and competition. Its a win-win situation for both ISRO and the industry.
Finally, what is your personal vision for ISRO? How do you inspire fellow scientists for any mission?
In ISRO we have a belief that the best motivation is giving more work. Work in itself is the award for us. Our scientists are passionate about their work because their work is directly linked to the life of common man. Be it television, mobile, internet, we can see the impact of our work on people. While working here, our scientists and engineers encounter numerous challenges and try to overcome them. Working against several odds and winning is an inspiration for many.
Currently, we are working on several missions like GSAT, GSLV Mark III, PSLV for IRNSS apart from the Chandrayaan-2 mission. We then have the Aditya-1 and the Mars orbital missions in the pipeline. Aditya is scheduled for launch in 2019 and the satellite is getting ready. With respect to my vision of new projects, we at ISRO follow a tradition. We have an action plan for 3 years, a strategy for 7 years and a mission for 15 years. This cycle of plan, strategy and mission keeps rolling as time progresses. Adapting to new technologies, coming up with new projects and accommodating the changes in the world are in-built part of this cycle.
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