If one is to think about Space Science in India, Many people might tell the name of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Sir, some enthusiasts even give out Dr. Vikram Sarabhai. But today, I will be telling the story about the person who took the leadership from Dr. Sarabhai and acted as a teacher for Dr. Kalam himself. Not to mention the meteoric rise ISRO achieved under his aegis. Yes, this Teacher's Day I will be sharing the story of Prof. Satish Dhawan.
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| Satish Dhawan in his office |
Professor Satish Dhawan was arguably the catalyst responsible behind the meteoric rise of Indian space program.
A rocket scientist, he was recognized by the Indian scientific community to be the father of experimental fluid dynamics research in India and was one of the most prominent researchers in the area of turbulence and barrier layers.
An Academician in the Truest Sense
Prof Satish Dhawan was a keen learner since his birth. He studied at Punjab University did his bachelor's in Mathematics and English, also a master's in Engineering. After that, he left for the United States to study further and did his M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. His yearning for engineering and mathematics didn’t stop there, as he further joined Caltech to dive deeper into aeronautical engineering and did his Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Mathematics. What an impressive scholar!!
The Captain at the difficult times
After the sudden demise of Vikram Sarabhai, the morale of an Infant ISRO was at a nadir, it was at these times that in 1972, Prof. Dhawan took charge of the Indian Space journey.
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| Prof. Dhawan with Vikram Sarabhai |
With him being a Rocket Engineer and not a physicist led to fears among the young team of ISRO scientists, all of which vanished once they met the visionary and cool-minded Prof Dhawan. It was Professor Dhawan, who hand-picked diligent professionals and young scientists to usher the new era for ISRO, and it did bear results in a spectacular way, Some of his visionary steps included appointing Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, to lead the project that developed SLV-3, India’s first launch vehicle, Roddam Narasimha to lead the research being done at NAL, UR Rao to head the team that made the country’s first satellite, Aryabhata. By the time he was about to retire, ISRO had firmly set up a launch vehicle the program, a satellite in orbit, the ability to fabricate its satellite, and many others.
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| Professor Dhawan leading from the front |
It was not only his scientific acumen but also his exemplary leadership which truly made him the legend in the Indian Space Community. I must recount a very interesting incident, the first experimental launch of SLV-3 took place on August 10, 1979, the team of Abdul Kalam knew that there is a leakage in the fuel of the system, but they hoped that the leakage is negligible, and they thought there was enough fuel in the system. This miscalculation led to the failure of the mission. Satish Dhawan being the chairman at the time called Abdul Kalam and conveyed to the press "We failed! But I have a very good trust in my team that next time we will be succeeding for sure". This surprised Abdul Kalam as the blame for the failure was taken by the chairman of ISRO. The next mission was prepared and launched successfully on July 18, 1980. At this moment of success, Satish Dhawan told Abdul Kalam to attend the press meet without his presence. When the team failed, he took the blame. But when the team succeeded, he redirected the success to his team, thus firmly establishing his picture as a true leader.
Later in his career, the People's President also said—The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience. Think about being a teacher and inspiration to the man who himself inspired Millions and taught countless children.
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| Young APJ Abdul Kalam with his mentor Prof. Satish Dhawan |
Dhawan conducted experiments in remote sensing and satellite communications which were useful for rural education. His work helped in the development of the famed telecommunications satellite INSAT, the Indian Remote Sensing satellite, and the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle(PSLV). He was also instrumental in setting up India’s first supersonic wind tunnel at the IISc.
It is also worth mentioning that not only he was the chairman of ISRO, he was also the youngest and longest-serving director of IISc establishing it as the premier research institution of Asia. Dhawan remained the chairman of ISRO till 1984, when he quietly stepped down from active leadership, still remaining in the Space Commission till his death.
Honored in a Unique Way
Prof. Dhavan contributed profoundly wherever he worked and significantly transformed that organization. He led the Indian Space Commission for 30 years but sadly passed away on 3rd January 2002. The legendary thinker shaped India’s space program and in an apt tribute to him, the satellite launch station at Shriharikota was renamed as Satish Dhawan Space Centre, a place which witnessed launches of Chandrayaan 1 & 2 and Mangalyaan too, the launches Professor would have loved to watch.
You are never forgotten. I hope my effort brings forward more awareness about him and we celebrate him equally as we celebrate other celebrities. I actually penned down this article on Teacher's Day (Sept, 5) as an ode to this Teacher and Mentor.
~Ciao
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