S. Somanath The Man Behind Chandrayaan-3

We take pride in the fact that India is now on the moon! India created history with the launch of Chandraayan-3.

- DR SAJITH CYRIAC

Sreedhara Panicker Somanath, the man spearheading the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has played a significant role in this space mission. Being a highly-qualified and experienced aerospace engineer with a proven track record of successes, Somanath made India’s wildest space dreams a reality.

Born in 1963, S. Somanath hails from Kerala’s Alappuzha district. He had been a science enthusiast right from the time he started his schooling in Malayalam. His father encouraged his passion for science and fed him with science books. While pursuing a B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering from Kerala University and a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Somanath kept his focus on space.

In his memoir which is published in Malayalam, Somanath describes how he used to commute to college on an old bicycle as he could not afford the bus fare and was forced to skip the study tour due to poverty in the family.