ISRO chairman lauds space scientist B.N. Suresh’s contribution to Indian space programme

Shivamogga

Highlighting the contributions of space scientist and Padma Bhushan awardee B.N. Suresh to the Indian space programme, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman V. Narayanan stated on Saturday that he was mentored and guided by Mr. Suresh throughout his career.”

Mr. Narayanan spoke in Shivamogga after releasing the Kannada translation of Suresh’s biography, “Onto a Rocket Ship.” The book, originally written by Sunil Suresh, has been translated into Kannada by Turuvanooru Mallikarjun, a faculty member at Jnanadeepa School in Shivamogga.

Mr. Narayanan said that ISRO, in the last six decades, has made India proud with its many accomplishments. Suresh joined the institute as an engineer a few days before it was formally founded in 1969. “Mr. Suresh has been part of the journey of ISRO. In fact, the story of Suresh is the story of ISRO as well. He was part of the team that worked on India’s first indigenous satellite launch vehicle under the leadership of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,” he stated.

Appreciating his skills as a systems engineer and team builder, Mr. Narayanan noted that Suresh had been a part of all major works at ISRO. “So far, the institute has conducted 105 launch vehicle missions, and Mr. Suresh headed the mission readiness review committee for 49 of those missions—a remarkable achievement,” he said. Acknowledging Suresh’s leadership qualities, Mr. Narayanan observed that whenever a mission is accomplished successfully, many claim credit, but not during failures. “We salute Mr. Suresh because he took responsibility when one of the missions failed,” he recalled. He also mentioned that Suresh mentored many scientists in his career and many of them became chairmen of the institute.

Expressing happiness about the release of the Kannada translation of his biography, Mr. Narayanan said that the book would inspire many students from rural backgrounds in Karnataka to achieve great things in their lives.

The programme was organised by the Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Education to mark the National Science Day. Mr. B.N. Suresh, space scientist and Chancellor of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology; Prof. Sharath Ananthamurthy, Vice-Chancellor of Kuvempu University Sunil Suresh, author of the biography; Talavane Prakash, chairman of the foundation; and others participated in the programme.