S Somanath, veteran aerospace engineer from Kerala, to be new ISRO chief

 Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath will take over as the new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

Chennai: Eminent rocket scientist S Somanath will take over as the new Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). 

In 1994, a young engineer with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), joined two of his seniors to set right a problem with a live PSLV rocket that stood ready for launch. Towards the final leg of the countdown, an issue was detected in the rocket and the highly-anticipated launch was put on hold. Setting it right was the most dangerous task that anyone could undertake, as the rocket was loaded with nearly 200 tonnes of hazardous fuels and chemical cocktails. Following typical procedure would have meant de-arming the rocket and draining off its fuel, thus delaying the launch. However, within minutes, the problem was set right and the rocket performed exceedingly well, it was a textbook launch and the first-ever successful flight of the PSLV(now regarding India’s workhorse rocket). That young scientist who joined his seniors to undertake that unenviable task is the newly-appointed Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization & Secretary Department of Space - Dr. S. Somanath. 

Hailing from Alappuzha (Alleppey) in Kerala, Dr. S. Somanath had been a science enthusiast right from the time he pursued his schooling, in Malayalam medium. Although a Hindi language teacher, Somanath’s father encouraged the young boy’s passion and aptitude for science, by presenting him science books in both English and Malayalam. Despite Engineering not being an easy option, Somanath chose to pursue a B.tech in Mechanical Engineering, during which he developed a deeper interest in Space science and research.