Kasturirangan hails Dhawan's Indian space research work

Space scientist K Kasturirangan has said the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has gained expertise in many aspects of running the space programme due to the unrelenting and rigorous work of the late scientist Satish Dhawan, among a host of other scientists who also made significant contributions.

Delivering the Fifth Satish Dhawan Commemoration Lecture on Monday at the Institution of Engineers on Monday, Kasturirangan said Dhawan was a multifaceted man who examined every issue very critically. “He never believed in hierarchies and though he was the chairman, he would come to you directly. He would ask very tough questions and was also a taskmaster. You couldn’t get away with generalities with him. He was aware of and always went into details and he knew every bit of what a scientist was working on,” the former Isro chairman said.

Dhawan’s character of doing very good homework on one’s subject has given rise to generations of scientists who do their homework on any project thoroughly. “It is this homework attribute that is showing immense results today. Every bit of perfection that you see in the Indian space programme comes from that outlook on work. Isro is known to win after a defeat, succeed after a failure. For this, you need scientists who know the basics well. Dhawan was rock solid on basics,” Kasturirangan said.

Building institutions was also a great hallmark of Dhawan. He helped build the Indian Institute of Science, Isro, Raman Research Institute, just to name a few.