Chandrayaan Mission: The Other Side

With the country gearing up for the Chandrayaan mission, there is one ISRO official who wishes he has no work to do on the launch date. While all other in his office are planning meticulously for the D-day, S Krishnamurthy can only pray their planning goes right and the PSLV stays on track when it starts its 3,00,000 km journey on October 22.

S. Krishnamurthy happens to hold the sonically unexciting position of "General Manager, Safety". Now, being a General Manger at any other office would be mundane stuff. Signing papers and meetings. However, we're talking about the ISRO here and trust me, it's not just another "run of the mill" office.

Mr. Krishnamurthy and his team, located at a distance from the actual launch site will be monitoring the path of the PSLV once it starts its journey and their job is to keep a watch on it. He is the only official in the entire ISRO to have the right to destroy the rocket in case the launch fails or if the rocket veers off its intended path, thereby endangering lives and property.

With as many as four radars keeping track of the PSLV with minute details about the state of the rocket once it is up, Krishnamurthy will be amongst the first to notice if anything is about to go awry. In fact, his team will continuously calculate the Instantaneous Impact Point (IIP), which happens to be the area where the debris will eventually fall in case of something going terribly wrong.

It is a job many dread to do. It was in July 2006 when Krishnamurthy last pressed the "destroy" button. The GSLV F02 was launched and within seconds, it veered from the path and it had to be destroyed in mid air after 45 seconds into the flight. The 414 tonne rocket was then seen disintegrating in mid air with huge debris falling in to the Bay of Bengal.

Even this time, extreme precautions have been taken to deal with any emergencies. Additionally, aircraft have been told to keep a safe distance from the Sriharikota skies on the day of launch.

While it is disturbing to read news about a possible failure, it is important to remember that ISRO is ready for any eventuality. And yes, rocket launches are complex feats of engineering with India possessing a very good safety record. Kudos to the ISRO team who have been behind this and to the people who will ensure the safety of others in case something goes wrong. Let us all hope everything goes as planned and the country successfully completes its first lunar mission in style!