An engineer at ISRO
Mylswamy Annadurai was born on 2 July 1958 in Tamil Nadu. After an engineering education he joined ISRO and worked for a long time on satellite systems, spacecraft project management and planetary missions.
His speciality became spacecraft project management, integrating payloads, and carrying out planetary missions within tight limits of cost and schedule.
Chandrayaan-1
He was Project Director of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar mission. In 2008 it made scientific observations from lunar orbit and contributed to the global scientific story of water and hydroxyl signatures on the Moon.
The move from operational satellites to a deep-space science mission demanded new capabilities in engineering culture, navigation and coordination of science payloads. The Chandrayaan-1 team established India’s lunar exploration capability.
Mars, and the Moon again
Later he was involved in managing the Mars Orbiter Mission and the Chandrayaan-2 programme, and rose to a senior director-level role at the ISRO Satellite Centre.
Chandrayaan-1 made planetary science a visible pillar of India’s space programme and offered a model for international payload collaboration. International cooperation can strengthen national capability, not weaken it.
Sources
- ISRO: Chandrayaan-1 booklet
- Mylswamy Annadurai: profile
- ISRO
- isro.gov.in/media_isro/pdf/miscellaneous/chandrayaan-i%281%29.pdf
- mylswamyannadurai.in/homeindex.html
- isro.gov.in/