Meet the woman scientist heading India’s Gaganyaan project

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Highlights

 

• The Isro has entrusted the programme to V R Lalithambika , a veteran of more than 100 space missions.

 

• The soft-spoken, 56-year-old scientist was also a vital member of the team behind the launch of a record 104 satellites in one go on February 15, 2017.

 

In his I-Day speech this year, PM Narendra Modi set the 2022 deadline for India’s first humanspace flight and said that “either a daughter or son of the country would go to space with the tricolour in hand”. At this point of time, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), the country’s space agency that will execute the mission, doesn’t know if it would be a man or a woman going to space but it surely knows that its veteran woman scientist, Dr VR Lalithambika, who has 30 years of experience in space missions, will be the key person handling the country’s highly ambitious programme.

The 56-year-old scientist was not only the key member of a team that was behind the launch of a record 104 satellites in one go on February 15, 2017, but she also played a significant role in the execution of over 100 space missions. In an exclusive interview with TOI’s Surendra Singh, she shares her good and bad experiences in Isro as well as informs about the upcoming human spaceflight programme. Excerpts:

Gaganyaan is supposed to take off into space by 2022. Tell us about your role.
Directorate of human space programme has recently been set up at the Isro headquarters. My designation is director, DHSP. We will be working under the guidance of the Isro chairman to complete the mission. We are currently charting out ways as how it should be done. All Isro centres will be involved in the execution of the programme. In fact, academia and industry will also be roped in for the programme. I can’t give any more information about it.

As a student, what drew you to space sciences?
My grandfather was a multi-faceted personality. Besides being a mathematician, he was an astronomer and gadget-maker too. He used to make lenses, telescope and microscopes at home itself. Right from childhood, I had exposure to science and technologies because of him. Our house in Thiruvananthapuram was very close to the Thumba rocket testing centre. I could watch sounding rocket launches from home. My grandfather used to alert me about all upcoming launches in the evening and educate me about Isro’s work. Naturally, I was drawn towards Isro since childhood because of him. My father was an engineer and my husband too had the engineering background. We are a family of engineers.

 

Despite clearing GATE, you didn’t join IIT for MTech. Instead you got married.
I did B.Tech from College of Engineering in Thiruvananthapuram and was the college topper. Then I got married and subsequently pursued M.Tech in the field of control engineering from the same college. I am proud of passing out from a college that has produced many stalwarts in diverse fields of engineering. In a sense, marriage is what made me, as most of my achievements came after that. When I joined Isro’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in 1988, I already had a two-year-old child but my husband took the big burden of taking care of the house. Later, I had another child. I could complete PhD while working only because of my family’s support. My parents and husband were so supportive that I could devote most of time for Isro’s work. Now, I am a proud grandmother of two.

In your 30 years in Isro, you've overseen many challenging missions like PSLV and GSLV. What's been the most memorable —the mistakes or the glory?
In my 30 years of stint in Isro, I have tasted both failures and successes. Some 2-3 months after I joined Isro in 1988, we saw the failure of the second ASLV and thereafter the first PSLV. My first direct experience of failure was with the first PSLV launch. It was such a traumatic experience. We learnt a lot from it. Thereafter we focussed on simulations. Since that failure, PSLV never failed us and became the most trusted workhorse of Isro. I am a qualified control engineer. I started off with PSLV as a control engineer and was involved in all missions thereafter. GSLV Mk II, Mk III and reusable launch vehicle. Before coming to the Isro headquarters in Bengaluru, I was deputy director (control, guidance and simulation) at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. I and my team have been working on guidance, autopilot design, and navigation guidance and control simulations which involve both hardware and software. This is one of the specialised areas related to the vehicle launch technology.

Any advice for those juggling motherhood and a demanding career?
For a working mother, if she has a good support structure, it’s a blessing. For others who don’t, they have to really struggle a lot. I was lucky as my parents and husband supported me throughout my life. It’s a question of time management and family support.

There is still a gender bias in science. What do you think is keeping women out of the STEM fields?
I was born and brought up in Kerala but I never experienced any gender bias in my life. Without experiencing it, I would not speak on the issue. I have never felt any gender bias in Isro. Once you enter the organisation, you are doing your job, irrespective of gender.

Manned space flights are expensive but also inspirational like Rakesh Sharma singing ‘Saare jahan se’ from space. What do you say to critics who say the money would be better spent on other programmes?
There are many reasons why we should go for the manned mission, which have been beautifully elucidated by the Isro chairman in his press conference recently.

Which female scientist (Indian or foreign) do you admire?
Marie Curie. I in fact once asked the same question to my daughter, who is a doctor. She gave the same answer. Probably because only a few women in those days were involved in research work. Therefore, the name of Marie Curie, a Noble laureate, always comes to our mind first.

 

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