The Great Indian Scientists---A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

The Great Indian Scientists

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931-2015)

1. A. Synonyms

a)      Affectionate—loving, tender

b)      Epithet—title, caption

c)      Tenacity—perseverance, stability

d)      Monetary—financial, pecuniary

e)      Dwindle—decrease, diminish, contract

f)        Kindred—related, akin

g)      Generous—charitable, humane

h)      Fascinate—delight, cheerful, amaze

i)        Pursue—continue, sustain

j)        Relentless—steady, uncompromising

k)      Eventually—ultimately, prospectively

l)        Pious—religious, devoted

m)    Conceive—begin, initiate

n)      Toil—stress, labour

o)      Renowned—great, noble

p)      Latent—inactive, passive, unused

q)      Harness—utilize, lock, control

r)       Demit—resign, depress

s)       Mettle—courage, character, stuff

1.B.Antonyms

a)      Pinnacle x base

b)      Humble x proud

c)      Perseverance x unstable, fickle

d)      Meagre x excessive

e)      Irrelevant x relevant

f)        Holistic x atomistic, divided, segmented

g)      Indigenous x foreign, external

h)      Culminate x base, inferior

i)        Crucial x unimportant

j)        Objective x subjective

k)      Persuade x dissuade, refutation

l)        Nascent x end, completion

m)    Herculean x easy, small, less

n)      Credible x incredible, unbelievable

o)      Devoid x presence

p)      Converge x distance, diverge

q)      Rigorous x mild

r)       Impeccable x perfect, faultless, flawless

2. Questions and answers

a) Who had most influenced the value system of Kalam when he was young?

Kalam attributes much of his value system to his parents. He says that he has inherited honesty and self-discipline from his father Jainulabdeen; and faith in goodness and deep kindness from his mother Ashiamma.

b) How did Kalam’s college days at St. Joseph’s help him inculcate religious harmony?

At St. Joseph’s Kalam had to share his room with two students of different faiths—a Syrian Christian from Kerala and an orthodox Iyengar from Srirangam. They had a wonderful time together and learnt the importance of religious freedom and harmony.

c) Note initial employments of Kalam and what he was supposed to do.

First, he joined HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) as aeronautical engineer for shop-floor training. He was engaged into overhauling activities of both piston and turbine engines of the aircrafts.

Later, he got a position at the DTD&P (Air) [Directorate of Technical Development and Production].

He was then sent to Aircraft and Armament unit in Kanpur and got the shop floor training. After receiving the training, he was back to the DTD&P.

He was subsequently posted to Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) at Bangalore. Here, he started to build an indigenous hovercraft.

d) What is a hovercraft?

A hovercraft is a wingless, light, swift, heavier-than-air flying machine.

e) Why was Thumba chosen to be centre for TERLS?

Thumba is on the earth’s magnetic equator making it the ideal location for scientists to launch sounding rockets and to conduct atmospheric research.

f) What are sounding rockets? Why are they important?

A sounding rocket is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. They are used for probing the near-earth environment, including the upper regions of the atmosphere. They are important to understand atmosphere, its pattern of changes and reasons of change.

They are advantageous because of their low cost, short lead time and their ability to conduct research in areas inaccessible. The smaller size of a sounding rocket also makes launching from temporary sites possible allowing for field studies at remote locations, even in the middle of the ocean, if fired from a ship.

g) What was the objective of the SLV project?

 To develop a reliable launch vehicle for a 40 kilogram satellite in a 400 km circular orbit around earth.

h) When an institution abroad declined a crucial high speed test equipment, what did Kalam do to get it done?

Kalam approached the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) to do the task as he was aware of the fact that at NAL, scientists had developed computational abilities. NAL along with scientists from IISc and DRDL worked round the clock to achieve the results.

i) What did Kalam invent with Dr. Somaraju and what was the purpose?

Kalam developed an economical stent called the “Kalam-Raju Stent” which would lessen the health costs for the poor. Kalam made it available for just 7 thousand rupees whereas other stents range from 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh rupees.

j) When did Kalam shift to Bangalore and what did he want to do there at IISc?

After the completion of SLV-3 project, Kalam was selected to be the Director of ISRO Launch Vehicles and he shifted to the headquarter in Bangalore, also the location of IISc (Indian Institute of Science). He wanted to do a Ph.D. by writing a complete account of the SLV-3 project and he thought such proximity to IISc would help him. However, this didn’t happen.

k) Who helped Kalam design the guidance systems for Agni missiles?

Tessy Thomas, the mastermind behind designing guidance for Agni series, helped Kalam.

l ) What were the two controversies that Kalam faced during his presidency?

1. Refusing to pass the amended ‘Office-of-profit’ Bill, which he later signed because of sheer pressure. (According to the Act, representatives like ministers, MLAs, CMs and other members of both the houses are not capable of serving if found guilty of holding an office of profit, which means they have another source of income that comes under the Act)

2. Doing nothing on the 20 odd clemency petitions that were pending with him for    various convicts across the country. He personally opposed death penalty. He believed that one can’t take away the life that God has given. Hence, he neither rejected nor granted mercy to those victims.

m) Name a few awards that Kalam won.

            Padma Bhushan (1981)

            Padma Vibhushan (1990)

Bharat Ratna (1997)

Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration (1997)

Veer Savarkar Award (1998)

Ramanujan Award (2000)

Honorary Doctorate of Science (2007)

King Charles II Medal (2007)

IEEE Honorary Membership (2011)

n) After his tenure as President, what were the assignments that Kalam took up?

Kalam, after his tenure as President, became

i)a visiting professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong; IIM, Ahmedabad and IIM, Indore

ii)an honorary fellow of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

iii)Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram

iv)Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Anna University

v)an adjunct to many other academic and research institutions across India

vi)taught Information and Technology at the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad and

vii)taught Technology at Banaras Hindu University and Anna University.                       

o) What were the career options available to Abdul Kalam after his degree? Why would he choose one over the other?

Kalam came to know that, as a pure science subject, Physics had very few career options. And, he was always fascinated about flying. Hence, he decided that aeronautics was his calling. To make his dream come true, he enrolled to engineering course at the MIT (Madras Institute of Technology) and chose to pursue aeronautical engineering.

3. Match the following (Answers)

1. Kalam’s birth place ---- (G) Rameswaram

2. Kalam’s first school ---- (J) Rameswaram Elementary School

3. Kalam’s ancestor’s traditional business ---- (M) Ferry goods and passengers across

4. Kalam’s higher schooling at ---- (L) Schwartz High School

5. Kalam’s college was ---- (B) St. Joseph’s College in Tiruchirapally

6. The English teacher who influenced Kalam towards literature ---- (N) Prof. Sequeria

7. Subject in which Kalam did his graduation ---- (K) Physics

8.The teacher who explained flight of birds to Kalam as child ---- (O)Siva Subramania  Iyer                                                                                                            

9. The subject which most fascinated Kalam ---- (F) Aeronautics

10. Kalam did his engineering from ---- (C) Madras Institute of Technology

11. The highest civilian award that    Kalam received in 1997 ---- (A) Bharat Ratna

12. Kalam became president in the year ---- (E) 2002

13. Indian national committee for Space Research ---- (H) INCOSPAR

14. Kalam did a 6 month training on rocket technology from here ---- (I) NASA

15. ISRO was established under this umbrella organization----(D) Department of Atomic Energy

4. Fill in the blanks

i) Kalam showed early inclination in the subjects Physics and Mathematics.

ii) Kalam’s first school was Rameswaram Elementary School.

iii) Kalam met several good teachers at this school Schwartz High School.

iv) After finishing his schooling, Kalam joined St.Joseph’s college in Tiruchirapally.

v) Kalam owes his interest in literature to Professor Sequeria of St. Joseph’s.

vi) Kalam went to this holy city after getting rejected for Indian Air Force Rishikesh.

vii) Kalam did his graduation in Physics.

viii) Department of Atomic Energy was formed in this year 1954.

ix) The scientists of the TERLS worked initially from the St. Mary’s Magdelene Church.

x) The first sounding rockets launched by TERLS were imported from Russia and France and their names, respectively, were M-100 and Centaure.

xi) In the Indian scientific landscape, Professor Satish Dhawan contributed in fluid dynamics and in the Indian space research; he contributed in boundary layer research.

xii) The first Indian satellite was named Rohini and was launched on 18 July 1980.

xiii) Kalam was the chief executive of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme  (IGMDP).

xiv) The quiver of missiles envisaged by Kalam included 5 missiles namely Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and  Agni.

xv) In 1992, Kalam was appointed the chief scientific advisor to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of the DRDO.

5. Answers from options

i) As chief executive of IGMDP, Kalam proposed a quiver of missiles namely:

            a) Prithvi b) Trishul c) Akash d) Nag e) Agni

ii) Kalam’s ancestors were in the business of:

a)      Ferrying passengers in boats           c) Ferrying goods

iii) To augment family income, Kalam as a child used to sell:

c)      Newspaper

iv) IN his school years, Kalam’s favourite subject used to be:

b)      Science                  c) Mathemaics

v) Kalam, during his career, has worked at this places:

            a) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited          b) DRDO         c)ISRO

vi) Kalam was inducted in TERLS as a:

c)      Rocket Engineer

vii) The first sounding rocket launched by TERLS included the following:

a)      Centaure from France         c) M-100 from Russia

viii) The first satellite that India launched was named:

a)      Rohini

ix) Duringthe 1990s, which project was very crucial for the Indian Government for the defence forces which only recently got completed?

b)      Light Combat Aircraft

x) Kalam contributed phenomenally in the development of:

            a) Sounding rockets                  b) Guided Missile                c) Satellite launch vehicle

6. Answer in detail

i. Why is Abdul Kalam called the “Missile Man” of India?

Kalam immensely contributed to the development of missile technology in India and hence called the “Missile Man” of India. He led several successful testing of missiles and their subsequent inclusion in the Indian military arsenal. He was instrumental in developing a quiver of missiles Prithvi, Akash, Trishul, Nag and Agni under the IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme).

ii. What difficulties did Kalam have to face as a kid?

Kalam’s family was a humble one. His parents were so generous and used to feed many people everyday. His father avoided all the inessential comforts and luxuries but the necessities were provided for, in terms of food, medicine or clothes.

When Kalam was eight years old, the Second World War broke out and for some unknown reason, there was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds. Kalam used to collect them and sell them to a provision shop. A day’s collection would fetch him one anna (16 annas=one rupee).

At the age of 10, Kalam’s daily routine was to wake up at 4am; take bath; take math lessons from Mr. Swamiyar; go to Namaz with his father and then to Arabic school to learn the holy Koran Sharif. Later he would go to the Rameswaram railway station to collect newspaper to be sold in the town to earn extra money for the family; meanwhile trying to do well in his studies too.

iii. What particular event at his school had a lasting impression on Kalam and guided him towards his career path?

Kalam was fascinated by the mysteries of the sky and the flight of birds from early childhood. He was inquisitive to know how birds could fly. When Kalam was in 5^th class, his teacher Mr. Siva Subramania Iyer described to the class how birds flew, how the drag and lift worked and to help the flight, they usually flew in a formation. When the children still couldn’t understand, he took them to the sea beach to show the flight of birds.

This experience had a lasting impression on Kalam and helped him decide the future course he was to take towards his career. His fascination of flight of birds turned into a keen interest in aeronautics when he read an article on British Fighter Planes.

Kalam used to watch cranes and seagulls soar into flight and longed to fly. He was also convinced that he too would one day soar up into the sky. He was indeed, the first child from Rameswaram to fly. He mentions that aeronautics is a fascinating subject, containing within it the promise of freedom.

iv. What lesson did Kalam learn while working on a project for a small aircraft at the MIT?

During his course at MIT, in the third year, Kalam was assigned a project to design a small aircraft along with six other batch mates. System design and system integration parts were assigned to Kalam. However, Mr. Srinivasan, the design teacher who was also the director of MIT was unhappy with the progress. Kalam pleaded for a month’s time to complete the task but Mr. Srinivasan asked him to submit it within three days and told that he has to lose his scholarship if he couldn’t. Scholarship was Kalam’s lifeline and he couldn’t afford to lose it. He worked day in and day out and was appreciated on completion of the task.

Kalam learnt the importance of time and time management with that experience. He says that it was a year of transition and was to have a great impact on his later life.

v. Take us through the development of rocket technology in India and how later indigenously made rockets were built? How did the training that Kalam received at NASA help him?

Kalam, as rocket engineer at TERLS played a crucial part in the development that went on in the institution for years to come. They were clearly a driven and motivated team. Kalam was nominated to go to the USA for a six-month training programme on sounding rocket and launching techniques at the NASA. After he came back, he successfully led several launches of sounding rockets in India.

Later, in 1965, India started launching indigenously made (home grown) sounding rockets. They are collectively called the RSR (Rohini Sounding Rocket). In later years, several hundred RSRs had been launched with increased sophistication with technological advancements. For this to achieve, Kalam had to collaborate with several leading laboratories in India and also scientists from other countries.

vi. How did Kalam’s team building and collaboration abilities help him in executing projects he took up?

At TERLS, Kalam worked on sounding rockets. For the development of these rockets and related technologies, Kalam had to collaborate with several leading laboratories in India and also scientists from USA, USSR, France, Germany and Japan. Kalam was an apt person to bring together the resources for a common objective. He has the ability to stitch together diverse teams and it helped in the further development of the project.

There was a smooth progress in the project SLV-3 as teams of scientists from different divisions within VSSC and other ISRO centers were brought together and a variety of coordination mechanisms were formulated. At DRDO, he used to talk freely to the scientists and maintained a wide network. When there was a last minute problem, the NAL scientists along with the scientists from IISc and DRDL had worked round the clock to achieve the results. Kalam has mastered the art of team building and collaborating.

During the IGMDP, Kalam led the team with collaborative management and took a consortium approach by roping in services from several other academic institutions, several DRDO laboratories and Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). That was the visionary approach and the leadership skills Kalam learnt from TERLS and ISRO days that helped him pull up things that seemed incredible. It helped him in executing all his projects as expected.                         

 vii. Explain the work Kalam did at DRDO.

After almost 20 years of dedicated service for the space mission—first at Thumba and then at ISRO—Kalam joined DRDO as Director of the Defense Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) at Hyderabad in 1982. He was entrusted with an Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Under the programme, a quiver of five guided missiles is to be developed simultaneously. They are Prithvi, Akash, Trishul, Nag and Agni missiles. Kalam was appointed as the chief executive of the programme. Kalam faced with failures initially with Prithvi and Agni and there was much criticism for wasting money and time. Kalam kept working with his team and eventually, reconfirmed his reputation as someone who always delivered on expectations.

viii. Explain the developments that led to Kalam being nominated for the post of President of India.

       Initially Kalam’s name was not in the contender’s list, however, the then Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, decided to offer the presidency to Kalam, sensing the delicate political situation. Kalam being India’s most credible scientist, an honest man and from religious minority community, even the Indian National Congress which was the main opposition came to support his candidature and Kalam became President of the Republic of India in 2002. He was the first president with a scientific background.

ix. What was the importance of the success of SLV 3 project?

The development of an Indian SLV had become the most ambitious project on the ISRO agenda. Kalam was appointed the Project Manager of the SLV-3 mission. Unfortunately, the first launch in 1979 failed giving way to criticism. But the second launch was successful, a year later.

SLV-3 proved to be a turning point in the history of the Indian space programme. That single success changed perceptions, both within and outside ISRO, about what Indian Space and Technology could do. It was a big boost to the nation. Until then the Indian Space Programme had not gone beyond sounding rockets. For the first time, the success of SLV inspired the confidence of the nation. The scientific strength of our country was proved.

x. Write a note on Pokhran-II and Kalam’s involvement in it.

Pokhran-II was the series of five nuclear bomb test explosions conducted by India in May 1998. Kalam, the chief scientific advisor and director of DRDO has served as the Chief Project Coordinator of this nuclear test. He played strategic political and technological role. Extensive planning was done to ensure that the test preparations would remain secret. Media did a lot of coverage of the work put in by Kalam and he became the most well-known face of nuclear science in the country. After the test, the Indian government led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee convened a press conference to declare India a full-fledged nuclear state. It was said, “There is no compromise on national security; all options including the nuclear options will be exercised to protect security and sovereignty.”

7. Assignments

i. Read more about Tessy Thomas and her contributions towards science in India and especially note her achievements in a recent path breaking space mission in India.

Tessy Thomas hails from Kerala. She was born in 1963. She was named after Mother Teresa. She completed her B.Tech and joined DRDO as a scientist. She was appointed by Abdul Kalam in Agni missile programme when she completed her M.Tech.

Within a few years of coming into the Agni team, DR. Tessy Thomas had designed an advanced missile guiding system which was first of its kind in India. With this, the missile would never miss its target. Her expertise didn’t stop here. She has also developed a ground breaking technology named RVS (Re entry Vehicle System). This lets the missile re-enter the atmosphere with a thundering velocity and with a temperature of three thousand degree Celsius. The real test for Tessy Thomas and her team came in July 2006, 75 seconds into the flight and the test missile suddenly went out of control but Dr.Tessy Thomas took it as a challenge and the team was able to launch that missile after a period of 10 months successfully. It was all due to the untiring efforts of Tessy Thomas.

She is called “The Missile Woman of India” or “Agniputri” for her remarkable efforts in the works of Agni 3, Agni 4 and Agni 5. She was the associate project director for the Agni 3, an intermediate range ballistic missile. It is capable of engaging targets deep inside neighbouring countries. It is the most sophisticated and accurate ballistic missile of its range class in the world.

She was project director for the Agni 4 project that was successfully tested in 2011. It has a number of new technologies and significant improvement in missile technology. The missile is light weight and has two stages of solid propulsion and a payload with re-entry heat shield.

Tessy was appointed the project director for the five thousand kilometer range Agni 5 missile in2009 and the missile was successfully tested in 2012. It is an inter-continental ballistic missile developed by the DRDO of India. She says, “We are all proud of our country. Agni 5 is one of our greatest achievements.”

Tessy Tomas was conferred the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for her outstanding contribution for making India self-reliant in the field of missile technology. She says, “I have built a vehicle that can also carry flowers. I am building it for a country that only wants it as a deterrent. So I am building it to actually ensure peace in this region.”

ii. List out the names of scientists mentioned in the whole of the lesson. Write a paragraph each about their role/contribution to Indian space and missile technology.

Homi Jehangir Bhabha

He was an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director and professor of physics at TIFR. He was known as “father of the Indian nuclear programme’. Bhabha played a key role in convincing the Congress party leaders and Jawaharlal Nehru to start the ambitious nuclear programme. He was the visionary behind India’s three stage nuclear power programme. He is one of the most prominent scientists that India has ever had. He also encouraged research in electronics, space science, radio astronomy and microbiology. Bhabha was the founding director of TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) and the DAE (Department of Atomic energy). He was known for Indian nuclear programme, Cascade process of cosmic radiations, point particles, Bhabha scattering and Theoretical prediction of Muon.

MGK Menon

MGK Menon was a physicist and policy maker from India. He had prominent role in the development of science and technology in India over four decades. One of his most important contributions was nurturing the TIFR which his mentor Homi J. Bhabha founded in 1945. He undertook experiments with cosmic rays to explore the properties of fundamental particles. He was actively involved in setting up balloon flight experiments, as well as deep underground experiments with cosmic ray neutrinos in the mines at Kolar Gold Fields. He contributed to science and the building of modern India.

Prof. Vikram Sarabhai

Sarabhai was an Indian scientist and innovator widely regarded as the father of India’s space programme. The nation honoured him awarding Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. The Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre (VASCSC), established in the 1960s worked towards popularizing science and mathematics education among students, teachers and the lay public. Its mandate is to stimulate interest, encourage and expose the principles of science and scientific method and also to improve and find innovative methods of science education. Establishment of ISRO was one of his greatest achievements. He convinced the Indian government of the importance of a space programme for a developing country like India. He wanted to prove that we are second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. He selected Thumba to set up TERLS because of its proximity to the equator. TERLS was renamed Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in his honour. Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian satellite. As a result, the first Indian satellite Aryabhata was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian cosmodrome.

Prof. Satish Dhawan

Satish Dhawan was an Indian aerospace engineer, widely regarded as the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India. He was one of the most eminent researchers in the field of turbulence and boundary layers, leading the successful and ingenious development of the Indian space programme. Although he was the head of the Indian space programme, he devoted substantial efforts towards boundary layer research. His most important contributions are presented in the seminal book Boundary Layer Theory. He set up the country’s first supersonic wind tunnel at IISc. He also pioneered research on relaminarization of separated boundary layer flows, three-dimensional boundary layers and trisonic flows. Dhawan carried out pioneering experiments in rural education, remote sensing and satellite communications. His efforts led to operational systems like INSAT, a telecommunications satellite; IRS, the Indian Remote Sensing satellite; and PSLV, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle that placed India in the league of space faring nations. Following his death, the satellite launch centre at Sriharikota (SHAR) was renamed the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC).

Dr. V. S. Arunachalam

Dr. V. S. Arunachalam worked as a scientist in his early years. He was the head of DRDO for about ten years. He initiated major defense projects like the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He served as Defense Scientific Advisor to the Defense Minister of India serving ten Defense Ministers and five Prime Ministers. He advised the government on the definition, assessment and review of a number of major technological and societal programs such as optical fiber communications for India, development of indigenous iron and steel technologies, scientific and technological missions for the country to eradicate illiteracy, infant mortality etc. he also advised the government in the area of graduate education in Engineering. He was conferred Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan for his contribution to Indian science. He was awarded DRDO’s lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution in the field of scientific research and technology.

Highlights of Kalam’s life

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam—Born on 15 October 1931—Father-Jainulabdeen, Mother-Ashiamma

Interested in mathematics and science subjects—At 8, sold tamarind seeds—At 10, sold newspapers to support family—wake up at 4—bath, maths tuition, Namaz, Arabic school, newspaper

Schooling in Rameswaram Elementary school—Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry—religious indifference

At 15—Schwartz High School in Ramanathapuram—Mr. Solomon

Joseph’s College in Tiruchirapalli, Tamilnadu in 1950—religious harmony—shared room with students of other faiths—Love for literature (Mr. Sequeria)—wrote poems in Tamil and English—essay writing—Graduation in Physics in 1954—fascinated by flight of birds—in 5^th class, Siva Subramania Iyer—bird fly—beach—lasting impression—aeronautics—also, lunch at his house

MIT in 1954—aeronautical engineering—sister mortgaged her chain and bangles—3^rd year—year of transition—project work—design an aircraft—3 day time—scholarship would be stopped—learnt importance of time and time management—engineering degree (DMIT) from MIT in  1958—joined HAL(Hindustan Aeronautics Limited)—shop-floor training—hands-on approach—overhauling engines

1958—Applied for the Indian Air Force—pilot Dehradun—and DTD&p(Air) Delhi—failed in pilot test, stood 9^th, only 8 were needed—depressed—failure—Rishikesh—ashram—swami—You are not destined to be a pilot, forget your failure—accept what comes—job at DTD&P(Directorate of Technical Development and Production)—250/-—training  at Aircraft and Armament unit in Kanpur—shop floor training—posted at ADE (Aeronautical Development Establishment) Bangalore—‘If I was not flying the planes, I was at least helping to make them airworthy.’

1958—ADE—hovercraft—indigenous, prototype—Nandi—defense minister V K Krishna Menon’s support—comments from seniors—built the hovercraft—light weight, wingless, swift, flying machine—one year—ride in hovercraft—Menon appreciates—out of his position—project shelved—Kalam put his heart and soul in it—depressed—limitations—after sometime—guest comes, questions, takes ride—Director of TIFR (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research)—MGK Menon—in a week—call for interview—Kalam relaxed, answers cool—best performances when you are relaxed—Interviewed by Menon and Prof. Vikram Sarabhai—Sarabhai appoints Kalam as rocket engineer at TERLS

Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) instituted by PM of India Nehru and Homi J. Bhabha in 1954, headquarters in Mumbai

Under DAE, INCOSPAR (Indian Committee for Space Research) was set up by Sarabhai and the Govt. of India (PM Nehru) in 1962 (the talented pool from TIFR)

INCOSPAR set up TERLS (Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station) in 1962 at Thumba, Kerala—Thumba on earth’s magnetic equator—Sarabhai at helm

1962—Kalam at TERLS—rocket engineer—Chief Designer for a Rocket-Assisted Take-Off system—pioneer in the fire glass technology development—St. Mary’s Magdelene church—1963—Kalam nominated to go to the USA—NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)—a 6 month training—Tipu Sultan credited for use of rocket technology—Kalam was impressed and felt proud—in 1799 when Tipu died in war, the British took with them to England 700 rockets and sub systems of 900 rockets—no patent—reverse engineering—with death of Tipu, demise of Indian rocketry took place for nearly 150 years.

Nov 1963—launch of first sounding rocket in India—two stage—one Russian (M-100) another French (Centaure).

1965—launched hundreds of indigenously made sounding rockets—RSRs (Rohini Sounding Rockets)—increased sophistication and advanced technology—for this, collaboration with many leading laboratories in India and scientists from other countries.

1965—SSTC (Space Science and Technology Centre) was established in Veli near Thumba.

15 August 1969—ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) was established under the DAE(INCOSPAR eventually grew into ISRO in 1969)—Homi Bhabha’s death—Sarabhai to lead—Kalam was selected to lead SLV (Satellite Launch Vehicle) project under ISRO—Sarabhai great mentor—Kalam entrusted with prestigious SLV 3 and SLV 4 projects

1970—project Devil, project Valiant—ballistic missiles—Valiant a failure—Devil discontinued by 1980, later led to development of Prithvi—secret funds from Indira Gandhi—the Devil wind up—many excellent professionals hadn’t recovered from the disappointment till 1982

On 31 Dec 1971—Sarabhai’s death—Professor Satish Dhawan—Chairman of ISRO (after a brief period by MGK Menon)

Satish Dhawan—prominent in fluid dynamics research and boundary layer research in India—popular teacherat IISc (Indian Institute of Science)Bangalore—did seminal works in the field of rural education and remote sensing technology

1972—Dhawan designated Kalam as project manager for the SLV—same year, DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) working on SAM (Surface to Air Missile)—collaboration—generate ideas and implemented

1979—first test launch—failed—Kalam wanted to resign—persuaded by Dhawan to continue—successful in next launch—on 18 July 1980—named the satellite, Rohini—efforts of team

1980—Kalam became Director of ISRO launch vehicles—shifted to ISRO headquarters at Bangalore—close to IISc—wanted to do a Ph. D on SLV 3—but couldn’t

1982—After 20 years of service for space mission at TERLs and ISRO—joined DRDO as Director of DRDL (Defense Research and Development Laboratory) at Hyderabad

1982—At DRDL—IGMDP (Integrated Guided Missile Development programme)—to achieve self-sufficiency in the development and production of wide range of ballistic missiles—battlefield missiles—Kalam with MR. V S Arunachalam, the scientific advisor—to build a quiver of five guided missiles for India—Prithvi, Surface to surface missile—Trishul, the tactical core missile—Akash, the surface to air mid-range missile—Nag, the anti-tank missile—Agni, the intermediate range ballistic missile—defense minister R Venkatraman—Rs. 388 crore for mission—Kalam—chief executive of the programme—initial failure in launching Prithvi and Agni too—later successful—Agni took some more time—Kalam confirmed his reputation as someone who always delivered on expectations.

NAL (National Aerospace Laboratory)—computational abilities—collaborative work—scientists from IISc, DRDL and NAL—worked round the clock—achieved results

1992—Prithvi coming into production phase—Kalam was appointed the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister (P V Narasimha Rao) and Secretary of the DRDO (till 1999)—LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) programme—crucial—Kalam initially had reservations for it—convince after initial challenges were overcome.

1998—Pokhran-II—nuclear tests—chief project coordinator—secret tests—media coverage—well known face of nuclear science in the country—alleged by one of his colleagues—test results—Kalam dismissed

1998—the Kalam-Raju stent with Dr. Somaraju—to help the poor—stent for 7k instead of 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh—later no orders—no production—affordable light weight calipers to the polio-stricken—just 300 gms instead of 3 to 4 kgs—for just Rs.500—others cost 3,500 to 4000—material used—same material which was used for nose cone of Agni missile.

1999—wings of Fire—autobiography

25 July 2002—sworn as the 11^th President of India—man with scientific background—Vajpayee nominated—NDA rule—opposition Congress party also supported Kalam—won the election—very popular by that time and people of India were very fond of him—people’s president—controversies—signing the Office of Profit Bill—not taking any decision on the 20 odd mercy petitions—including Afzal Gurus’s (Kashmiri separatist, who was convicted for his role in the 2001 Indian Parliament attack. Received death sentence in 2013)—Kalam’s tenure from 25 July 2002 to 25 July 2007

Many awards from 1981 to 2011—Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Bharat Ratna (1997)

Post Presidency—visiting professor at IITs and research Institutions

27 July 2015—at IIM, Shillong—to deliver a lecture on “Creating a Livable Planet—Earth”—5 minutes into lecture—collapsed—cardiac arrest—met his maker

Kalam—an epitome of simplicity—led simple life—lived up to everything he said, preached and taught us.

Sounding rockets—to probe the near-earth environment—can carry a variety of payloads to  a range of altitudes—but cannot impart the final velocity to orbit the payload

Launch vehicles—designed to inject into orbit a payload or a satellite—the final stage of the launch vehicle provides the necessary velocity for a satellite to enter an orbit—a complex operation requiring on-board guidance and control systems

Missile—same family—more complex in nature—large terminal velocity + on-board guidance + control systems—target-tracking function—ability to trace and attack fast-moving targets

ISRO—to develop space technology and its application to various national tasks—formed in 1969—Nehru and Sarabhai—first satellite—Aryabhata—launched by the Soviet Union on 19 April 1975—in 1980—Rohini—first satellite to be placed in orbit by an Indian-made launch vehicle—later, PSLV—GSLV—Chandrayan-1 on 22 October 20008, Lunar Orbiter—Mangalyaan MOM(Mars Orbiter Mission)—entered Mars on 24 September 2014 (launched on 5 Nov 2013)—India became first nation to succeed on its first attempt, ISRO the 4^th space agency in the world and the first in Asia to reach Mars orbit—Mangalyaan featured on the new 2000 rupee notes to celebrate India’s Mars mission—a record of 20 satellites at one go—2017 Feb, set up to launch 103 satellites at one go on a single rocket—micro-small satellites—GSAT-9 to be launched in March 2017

DRDO—Defense Research and Development Organisation—charged with military’s research and development—New Delhi—network of 52 laboratories—developing defense technologies covering various fields like aeronautics, armaments, electronics, land combat engineering, life sciences, materials, missiles and naval systems—India’s largest and more diverse research organization

SHAR—Sriharikota High Altitude Range—a rocket launching station operated by ISRO—located in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh—renamed in 2002—Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)—Sriharikota chosen in 1969—became operational in 1971—Rohini sounding rocket in 1971—Rohini launched in 1979—failed—consists two launch pads—second built in 2005—Chadrayan and Mangalyaan launched from here—crescent shaped island—nearness to equator—benefiting eastward launches—making best use of earth’s west to east rotation—uninhabited area