#memory
U. R. Rao
24 July is the death anniversary of Dr U R Rao(1932-2017).
Dr Rao, along with Dr Vikram Sarabhai and Prof. Satish Dhawan, formed the troika of the founders of the Indian Space program.
Udupi Ramachandra Rao did his PhD under Sarabhai himself.
In 1972, Sarabhai entrusted the young Rao, fresh from MIT and the only Indian who had the experience of working with NASA, the task of building an Indian satellite. Aryabhatta was launched on a Russian rocket in 1975. As the first Director of the ISRO Satellite Center, he launched 18 satellites.
Rao succeeded Dhawan as Chairman of ISRO in 1984, and had a long tenure of 10 years, which enabled him to lead, guide, and nurture a whole generation of space scientists and engineers.
He designed the Lunar Mission Chandrayan 1, ASLV, and a major portion of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) program.
Rao, known as the gentle genius, authored more than 350 scientific and technical papers, and was honoured with DSc by 25 universities across the world. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 2017.
The ISRO Satellite Centre in Bangalore has been named UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC ) in honour of his memory.
– Joy Kallivayalil.
