Artwork by Akshita Arora
From conversation on:
Nov 21, 2020
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Curiosity is perhaps the most fundamental aspect of being human. Mankind’s quest to explore the vast unknowns of space and its possible applications have constantly driven scientists and engineers alike. How do we put a satellite into space? How does a rocket go up? What does it take to reach out to the stars? Why should we invest in space at all? How does it help us? In this episode, we ask these fundamental questions to a space science veteran from India, Dr. B.N. Suresh. Dr. Suresh is a first-generation scientist of the Indian Space Research Organisation and has played a fundamental role in the Indian Space Program. In our conversation with him, Dr. Suresh touches upon the field of rocket science and the minute details it entails, along with his personal experiences and journey through the formative years and the beginning of the Indian Space Program. Dr. Suresh also talks about the initial setbacks and how ISRO dealt with those failures paving way for the launch of a satellite to Mars with budgets smaller than the movie Gravity. We also have with us young minds from high schools across the country, which makes this conversation a treat to hear, as they ask their probing questions to an eminent space scientist directly. Tune in to this two part episode to find out in more details about space based applications including but not limited to satellite communication, navigation and disaster management.
... that is why I often say that the most complex system that one can build is a rocket - assembling it, integrating it, and making it work... What you need is to build systems with zero defects or even to perfection!
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. B. N. Suresh Honorary Distinguished Professor, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Headquarters, Bengaluru
Dr. B.N. Suresh is an internationally renowned veteran from the field of space sciences and a distinguished Indian Scientist. Dr. Suresh is the founding director, and current Chancellor of the prestigious Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, established by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). He is presently serving as an Honorary Distinguished Professor at ISRO Headquarters. Dr. Suresh was formerly the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), the lead centre of ISRO in launch vehicles; former President of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE); and former member of the Space Commission of India. An internationally renowned aerospace engineer with pioneering accomplishments in the arena of space vehicle design, space navigation guidance, control and actuation systems, vehicle electronics, integrated simulation for launch systems and R&D management in the country. His role in defining the activities for advanced technology development and their planning for space transportation in India is very significant. Dr. Suresh took his degree in Science in 1963 and in Engineering in 1967 from Mysore University. Later he did his Post Graduation from IIT Chennai in 1969. He started his career in ISRO at VSSC in 1969. Following this, he earned his doctoral degree in Control Systems from Salford University, UK under Commonwealth Scholarship. As Distinguished Scientist and Director VSSC, he provided the dynamic leadership for the development of very complex launch vehicles and contributed significantly for the successful launches of ASLV, PSLV and GSLV. He has been instrumental in establishing full-fledged and state-of-the-art laboratories needed for the evaluation of complex systems. He has nurtured and built world class actuation systems and launched vehicle simulation laboratories. He played a crucial role in steering the very complex Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE), which involved several new and critical technologies. The module was flight tested successfully with perfect re-entry and precise recovery operations. Among his numerous laurels, in recognition of his meritorious contributions to Science and Technology, the Government of India conferred on him the 'Padma Shri' Award in the year 2002 and the 'Padma Bhushan' in 2013. He has published more than 45 technical papers in national and international symposiums, conferences and journals and guided more than 500 technical reports in the area of launch vehicle design, mission, avionics and other associated areas.
Transcript
Naman Jain (Host 1) :
Welcome to the final episode of season one of Zeroing In - The Science Podcast. I am Naman Jain and hosting this episode with me today is Prakhar Agarwal, who is an aerospace engineer and has been working in ISRO, as a scientist, for the last nine years. He is also a graduate from the very first batch of the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and is currently pursuing his advanced master at ISAE Supaero, in Toulouse, France.
We are extremely elated to have here with us in conversation an internationally renowned veteran from the field of space sciences, a distinguished Indian Scientist, Dr. B.N. Suresh. He has been associated with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for a little more than 50 years now. A Padma Bhushan, and Padma Shri awardee for his riveting contributions to the country’s scientific and technological growth he has closely seen and shaped the Indian Space program almost right from its very beginning. Presently serving as an honorary distinguished professor at the ISRO headquarters in Bangalore, Dr. Suresh was formerly the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), former President of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE); and former member of the Space Commission of India. His role in defining the activities for advanced technology development and their planning for space transportation in India has been very significant.
He joins the distinguished group of individuals who, by their achievements in the engineering of systems, have contributed uniquely to crucial technological developments in the country, and enhancement of the society at large.
This podcast session is especially interesting as partaking in the discussion with us, we have some of India’s brightest and curious young students from secondary schools, joining us from various corners of the country, to ask their question to Dr. Suresh directly. These schools participating with us include-
Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1, Palakkad, Kerala
St. Xavier's Senior Sec. School, Jaipur, Rajasthan
Naagarjuna Talent School, Hyderabad
Sherwood Public School, Secunderabad
Heritage Valley - The Indian School, Shadnagar
Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English High School, Mumbai.
VMJ School, Madurai
Somalwar High School and Jr. College, Nagpur
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Barrackpore (AFS), West Bengal
We extend a warm welcome to all the teachers and students and look forward to their curious questions along the discussion. And of course, again, We would like to extend our heartiest welcome to Dr. B.N. Suresh. Welcome, sir!
Dr. Suresh :
Yes, it is my pleasure. Let me thank all of you for organizing beautiful session and I am always excited to meet and spend my time with the youngsters. It’s very nice to see you all, a very good number of youngsters from across the country.
Naman :
Sir, we are glad and honored to have you here with us. So sir, we would like to start with the most fascinating and broad idea at the outset, and this is something that you’ve always addressed in the beginning of your sessions or any public talks – Why is rocket science so complex? Would you like to briefly talk about the excitement of the undertaking before we delve into the details?
Dr. Suresh :
Now that you’ve asked a very interesting question which is always my favorite because you know, rocket science essentially signifies a task which is very difficult to comprehend. That’s how the word rocket science has come. When we talk about space whether it’s a launch vehicle or rocket which puts the satellite into the orbit, or the satellite once launched it has to stay in the orbit for almost 10-15 years and carry on the task assigned to that. All these things can happen only if you are able to visualize how it works and how to make it work without any problem any time. Many of the systems that we build may get into a problem and so what we do is we try to correct it and take it forward, for example you take an automobile and some problem comes. What do you do? You just take it to the side, get it repaired and then move on. But in space systems you can’t do that because any one failure of any kind, whether it is simple or complex, will end up with catastrophic failure or what we call mission failure, costing a few hundreds of crores for the taxpayers . So that is why it becomes very complex and how we are able to visualize all possible scenarios, all possible failure conditions and making it robust. What you need to do is to build systems with zero defects or even perfection. That is extremely important, that is why I keep telling all the time, if you master rocket science essentially you, you are able to perfect what you are doing, I think you will be able to do a good job and always you will come out with colors in whatever tasks you are going to undertake.
Naman :
Indeed, indeed that is a really beautiful bit. I believe there is one thing that is very prominent when you, when you usually address this question and I think I would just like to point that out again, what is it like making a rocket from scratch?
Dr. Suresh :
Yeah, I will not get into the details but it is a very interesting question. I think any probing mind should get fascinated by the way the rocket works, after all it takes about 20-22 minutes. The moment we give the countdown and call T-0, it majestically takes off and within 17-20 minutes it places the aircraft in the precise orbit, hundreds of kilometers away. What is required to build it? Basically, when you talk about rocketry or launch vehicles, it consists of all branches of science and engineering. I think what all our young friends learn in their schools, colleges and engineering, all of them you need to apply because there is a propulsion system which gives the energy, just like you have the engine which provides the power to the car to drive. Then of course you have the structures which houses the entire energy package into that. Then you have the control guidance, basically it’s the brain which really guides it autonomously to take it to the final slot. Then you have the mechanisms which separates the different stages that are thrown into the sea. Then you have several other components coming into the system. You know, if you really look at one vehicle, it contains as many as 400-500 electronic packages or avionic packages. If you really look at the voids that you see in the vehicle, top to bottom, back to forth, up and down if you really measure the length, it would turn into 200-300 kilo metres of wires running all around. So, all these things require a very meticulous planning, design and more than that, as I have mentioned to you already, once you have various disciplines it becomes multidisciplinary. In fact, not only is it multidisciplinary it also becomes multi-dimensional. So you can see the complexity of the system that we are building that means you have a number of scientists and engineers mastered in different areas like, in the propulsion, control, structures, mechanism, avionics, so on and so forth. All of them have to work with synergy, I always tell this, it is like a big symphony orchestra. Why I am saying this is because, even if one person plays a wrong note in that big symphony orchestra the whole music goes off. Same thing happens in rocketry, if anyone does any one simple error or mistake, the whole mission will be over. That’s why I keep telling that it is required to build a standard vehicle which can put a satellite into orbit, maybe some 2000-2500 scientists and engineers have to work together along with the other support staff. In my opinion, if you are building a new vehicle, it takes a bit between 8-10 years to unify the quanta of work that is involved in building the rocketry and one can go on and on but I think, it suffice to say that this is the complexity with which we build. That is why I keep telling, the most complex system that one can make is building the rocket, assembling it, integrating it and making it work.
Naman :
Alright, I think this is really a great answer even from a perspective of a child, who’s basically a student and is learning things right now in school. We’ve heard you answer this question in the most complex of details, it is really different to see you this way answering it so simply with the same fascinations. I think the next question I would really like to ask at the onset again is in your long journey with the Indian Space program, from the days when you were a young engineer and working on to this day, your clearance is a key for authorising missions and launches right now. So how has your experience evolved for you in that perspective?
Dr. Suresh :
I was in a way fortunate enough to have joined ISRO somewhere in the middle of 1969. And incidentally, I would like to tell this to our young friends, it was right after the historic event when Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon and that really excited me during my joining. Right after that I participated in various launches, so far we have had a total of 76 launches from Sriharikota, of our own and the one we had on 7th November, this very month was the 76th. We have placed 104 satellites of our own Indian satellites. I also want to tell you, today we have something like 50 satellites which are active in the sky, we call them space assets serving the company in several applications. So every launch is an excitement, every launch is a new launch because we can never know that after having seven launches the eight one will definitely be successful, because every launch is unique. We have a methodology developed over a period, for example when we go for a medical check up they call all specialists, on the same line we have to check pulse of the various systems that are available in the rocket and then we monitor them on a continuous basis, during the countdown also we monitor and if satisfied that is all the conditions are met with we can say that the system is healthy and we can allow it to go ahead. So we press the button for launch, after that everything has its own working and it all works autonomous. Once you press the button till the satellite is put into the orbit. For us when we sit there and go through the launch phase, during the countdown we are very calm because any problem that arises can be dealt with and corrected but once the vehicle takes off nothing is in our hands and every minute will be for us like an year. That is the kind of palpitations that we have sitting there and nothing much can be done except praying to our own favorite Gods. Till the satellite is injected we are all very tense and the moment the satellite is injected and we get the data in the control center, all of us jump with juvilliation. That is the excitement and experience we have, but then that experience comes from the hard work that is put in by thousands and thousands of scientists and engineers for a national cause.
Naman :
Indeed, that is extremely fascinating to hear. So at this bit, before we start off with a detailed discussion, can you briefly explain all the areas that ISRO works in and the tasks it majorly undertakes at present because right now we have a very small view of all of that.
Dr. Suresh :
If you really talk about ISRO we cannot start without recalling the founding father of the Indian space program, that is Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the visionary and somewhere in the early sixties he visualised for a country like India in those days to have its own Space program, we have advanced so much in the last five six decades but to see such a dream in the sixties was big. While addressing the United Nations, he made one simple statement that we must be keen in the application of advanced technology for the benefit of the nation. Having said that he always has that in mind, we must utilise the space because once we put the satellite and it goes to a vantage point in space we can utilise it for the various other applications on ground for the benefit of the common man. In other words, the first and fundamental thing in any space program is its application and when I say applications, it could be remote sensing, it could be communication, navigation, disaster management, all these different functionalities will come into the picture. When I talk about remote sensing, using the vantage point of space and putting proper instrumentation I can supply the data that is collected or various other applications. I am sure our young friends might have heard about its application for agriculture, fishery, rural development, forestry, and so on into many other areas. Similarly once you put the communication satellite, you have shrunk the whole globe into a small village and today it is all very well connected, the broadcasting and we have somewhere near 60-70 million connections from private to public. Similarly for disaster management, there were days when we had difficulty managing disasters, cyclones and even heavy rains. So the first application is to serve the common man, that is the important one ingredient. Having said that, second becomes having the payloads. Payloads means, you put the instrument onboard to reach the sky and these instruments carry out the measurement for application that I mentioned earlier. So when you put the payload in the orbit, you need to build a house for that called spacecraft. Spacecraft essentially provides a house for the payload and provides it with all the necessary amenities for payload to operate and transmit the data. Now, the third element that Dr. Sarabhai visualised was that we should have an end-to-end program and not just application, we build the spacecraft as well as launch it. Very few countries have ventured into launching the spacecraft because for one, it becomes very complex and cost is very high, facilities that are needed is very elaborate but still he visualises and hence the third component is the launch vehicle. So if you ask me, there are three important ingredients and I will repeat once again - one is the application which reaches out to the entire 1.3 billion population, then to gather the data that is needed you need to have the payload basically the instrumentation which is housed in the spacecraft and once you have the spacecraft, you also launch them by using our own launch vehicles. Apart from this of course we have several other programs and all these activities are very well organised and put in different centres. That's how we carry out the task to meet the requirements and if you ask me frankly, five decades are over and Dr. Sarabhai had visualised what should be done by the country and I think I can humbly accept that we have reasonably done that job and today we have reached out to each of every segment of the society and tried to help them in several ways.
Naman :
Indeed, that is completely undeniable and it's extremely fascinating and informative to hear these facets of ISRO that even we do not know as far as we have come still. So there’s a bit that I would again like to ask you about, as you were seeing all this happening in the 80s 90s, the Indian space program actually developing. We were the sixth country in the world to be able to become a space faring nation and even till now there are only 11 countries in that list. So how have you seen in the development of ISRO and in general, even personally through anecdotes and that ISRO was able to sustain through this program for so long given that we are in a developing state and the world was always questioning at some point about how such a country would develop in such a state.
Dr. Suresh :
Yeah, you know, this is a very interesting question, but then a country like India, you know, if you analyze how we are able to sustain, how still we are able to sort of remain one of the competitive organizations. Because I think the way in which I will get back to Sarabhai's vision, who visualized that we have to align all of our development towards national development. I think we have not departed from that particular goal even today. You know, whatever we do, the majority of the tasks that we do our launches, our missions. We always sort of align to meet the country's demand. Be it remote sensing, be it communication. You know, that's one of the reasons, although the GPS is there, and then GLONASS is there. All of them are supporters, but then we know that for sure at the time of difficulties, we can't depend on the global positioning system. Today it is available in all of our mobiles, in smart watches. Everywhere it is there. But under difficult circumstances, they may just stop it. That's why you know, we came out with our own Innovative way of doing seven satellites and navigation. And today it is put into service, what we call as the NavIC. So, what is driving us is really to meet the needs of the country and today its application is increasing tremendously. It is almost everywhere. The automobile sector, railway sector, and fishermen are all using it. And also the receivers are coming in a big way. So that in maybe another five years you will find our own location tracing in Indian mobiles, GPS as well as NavIC, so we can depend on our own. So what I am trying to drive at is that information procured keeps on increasing and the arena of our involvement also increases. See after honourable Prime Minister Modi took over as prime minister, he was very familiar with the space activities while he was in Gujarat. And realizing the importance of that, the first thing he did after he took over within a very short period, organise a big meeting at Delhi and calling as many as 75 different departments and he himself came and inaugurated, spent considerable time. And people from different countries were there and examined how the space data that we are generating can be utilised, number one. How much more data that you need the space to generate, and what kind of planning they have to do down the line five years, ten years, fifteen years at various departments.
And, in fact, that activity is not only seeded today, it is being monitored by the cabinet secretary with all departments. As many as 158 projects are running even today and our hands are full. So, it's not that just trying to launch a satellite, trying to put something in the sky. I think it's basically trying to meet the requirements of the country in any of the areas I termed earlier. So that, you know, the transponder I mentioned that today the demand in the country, such a big country is more than five hundred transponders. Whereas we have only around 270-280. Still the gap has to be filled. And of course also, the high speed internet requirements have come in a big way to remote places all that. Also, as you know, even today, the bandwidth requirement is not up to the mark that we would expect as a country. So, there are many many things that we need to do. I can tell you that we have a very long agenda to meet the requirement. While we have that, we can't be left behind in some of the advanced areas like interplanetary missions. That's where Dr. Kastur Rangan visualised that we must develop a capability and Chandrayan-1 was defined, Chandrayan-2. But you look at it, it is not the main agenda. In fact, we do it in addition to this important requirement. Same thing took almost 10 years when I was the director of VSSC. We started work on the human space mission. It's now more than 10 years, but then it was approved just two years back and we are working on that. Why because, you know, how the things will turn out from now to another five to ten years, nobody can visualize the way in which the technologies are advancing. We have to be diligent and thorough. I think we have to develop that habit and then keep moving. So there is a very good combination of meeting the requirements of the nation, then developing advanced technology toward the future demands and also trying to generate a blueprint for the country as well as from the global scenario. So that, you know, we have a dream of becoming one of these advanced nations very soon. I think we have to work towards that too. So these are all, we have to look in totality and take a comprehensive look.
Prakhar :
Yeah, that actually prints a broad picture of how the space program is so relevant and so much needed in a country like ours. Where the space program is contributing to the applications and development of the country. You mentioned an interesting point, Sir. That we're venturing out into inter-planetary exploration and even human spaceflight. And I remember that you initiated that space capsule recovery experiment which was successfully conducted in 2007. Perhaps, you can throw some light on how it was initiated, what was the work like on that. Whatever you would like to share about it.
Dr. Suresh :
You know ,It was a very interesting topic because the space recovery experiment, if you really look at it, it is the Spacecraft module which is in orbit and you are trying to sort of reduce the velocity and bring it back and recover. There was a very strong debate going on the way in which we have organized ourselves, whether the VSSC should do it. Because being re-entry it's equivalent to rocketry, VSSC should do it. But, being a spacecraft in orbit, for several days deorbiting, URSC should do it. What happened somewhere in 2004 or 2005, the then director of VSSC, Dr. Srinivasan was there. He's one of the, again, pioneers in rocket technology. And he appointed me as the chairman of the committee and when I really looked at it, it looked to me that this project cannot be done by one or the other. This is just to become ISRO's program. You know that, with that idea, I walked into the director's URSC room. At that time, Dr. P. S. Goyal was the director. Then I sat with him and convinced him. There is no point in saying you do it, I do it. This is not the way we're going to do it. Whatever thing, it has to be done in combination with all ISRO centers. For example, propulsion has to come from LPSC, the SHAR has to worry about the complete recovery operations, satellite operations you have to do. You know, finally, we were able to come to some common agreement and Madhavan Nair was the chairman at that time. We went and told him and then this is a big story. We all sat together, spent one full day. And the baseline is whosoever has made good advances in any particular technology, they will do the job. Not any centre or something. You know, one simple example, the navigation guidance control that worked like a single unit. But, IISU was mastering navigation, they will do it. Then, guidance, always VSSC was the master, they will do it. Spacecraft control more like URSC will do it. You know, we distributed ourselves. And then they put me to review the completely integrated technical aspects of that. The difficult portion here, if you really look at it, apart from all other things. Because it enters and then comes back. It is subjected to the very very high temperatures, you know, when it comes to the atmosphere.
So, you need some kind of thermal protection system so that when it is subjected to that 2,000 degrees Celsius plus outside, inside should be less than 67 degrees Celsius. So that all the instrumentation, everything remains all right. And also you guide it properly and come to the point where you want to reach. Then also, I told you, the recovery operation. You know, you have to have the coast guards, you have to have the ship. All that, a host of Technologies. Then, we worked almost like a single team within the first project, if I'm correct. Where, you know, the VSSC, URSC, Sriharikota, ISTRAC, all of them worked like a single team. And, you know, it went very well. Suffices to say that it succeeded. But what I would like to add one thing here is, you know, the country did not realize the importance of this particular vision, honestly. But, you know, I was representing India in UN deliberations at Vienna. And in the very first one that happens somewhere in the month of February, when I went and then made the statement, I myself was surprised. Every country congratulated India for accomplishing this recovery so precisely. You know, we were supposed to come in an ellipse of 50 by 70. We were right on the dot when we recovered. That was the kind of precision with which it was done. It was a very very interesting project. And the globe realized how difficult it is to come through for the first time, first attempt. And further I want to add that those who have heard this, if you happen to go to Trivandrum, there is a museum available, and this particular piece is kept there. I th ink this is possibly the only piece which has come from heaven is available in ISRO. You can go and see it.
Prakhar :
That's, that's very much fascinating and inspiring to hear. It very clearly strikes out in your conversations that ISRO has been able to find a real balance between healthy competition, and teamwork. And this is what brings about successes. We've also seen that in the terms of teamwork, ISRO has also tried to collaborate with international bodies, there have been collaborations in the past and there must be collaborations in the current scenario as well. So how do you see that ISRO's collaboration with other international agencies will go forward in future.
Dr. Suresh :
No, as far as the international collaboration is concerned, you know, when Sarabhai started way back Thumba equatorial rocket launch station, that's where the, the first seeds of international collaboration were seeded. Because he had such a big clout with various agencies, like, you know, he got the Rockets from Russia, France, England, U.S., all advanced countries. We were able to get them so that, you know, we were able to get the tracking, we were able to get the launcher, we were able to, sort of, assemble. Many things, you know, because by looking at it. So, that started, I think, particularly with Russia, our long-standing partner continued. I think all of you know that we did work together on Aryabhatta, Bhaskara, their own launches and our own cryogenic engines, GSLV-III. Even the human space mission, they are helping us in several ways. So, also with the U.S.A. I think we have joined hands. And of course, France, you know that our helped us work on the liquid engine, we were trying here. And then, what we call the VIKAS engine is really the help provided by them. And similarly, we had the initial gyros, accelerometers, we got it from several agencies across the globe. So, we strongly believe that, you know, as we move forward and forward in the space arena because it is expensive, it's important for us to join hands and enhance technology via international cooperation wherever possible. Sometimes, it's positive because it depends on the geographic partnership that we may have. You know, sometimes friendly, sometimes not so friendly. All these kinds of things will be there. So one has to factor all this and then move forward. But, you know, for example, when the international space station was done, in fact, we were not even invited. Maybe that's one of the reasons Kalam used to tell all the time, you know, strength respects strength. We didn't have the similar strength as what we have today. But, if they really visualize that they must have a similar program, I'm sure they will first invite India for two-three things. One is we have the capability. We are economically competent. And our youngsters are second to none. And so, I think all these things will factor. And then today, people are looking more and more towards India to join hands. And we also should do it in a selective manner, wherever it is advantageous to us. We can't simply pull the bandwagon and get in for the sake of it. But, we have to always look at the pros and cons and the kind of relations we have with each of the countries and move forward.
Naman :
Sure, Sir. I think that paints a really interesting picture and the whole view is quite judicial, in the sense of taking the program sustainably forward. I think we can have questions from one of our students at this point. We have the first question coming from Pragadheeshwari. Can you please ask your question?
Student Question :
Good morning, sir. My name is Pragadheeshwar. I'm from VMJ School, Madurai. My question is, what attracted you towards Aerospace avionics engineering after graduation from mechanical engineering?
Dr. Suresh :
You know, I always believe that when you go and join somewhere, whatever task is given to you I think you should carry on. As scientists and engineers, what we learn in our schools and colleges is really trying to learn the task that is given to you. Whatever is needed to be learnt, you can learn. Basically, that ability we have to develop. It so happened that when I joined way back in 1969 and reported for the task, I was given the development of a control system which I had not studied, which I had not seen anywhere. I had not touched a computer. I didn't know anything about simulation. Because these are all the important things that one should have to develop a control system, build it, and you should have electronics to control that. Then you have to have a simulation to simulate that. But then, you know, it was a little surprising to me and as well as, you know, disheartening because what I have studied I'm not able to use. But then, my boss at that time, you know, he simply made one statement. Look, Suresh, you are all Engineers. You are, sort of, taught how to do things new and take it as a challenge and do. In the process, you learn something new. I think that particular statement made me really take on and then carry on the task. It took some time, but you know, in a matter of something like 2 to 3 months you are able to learn, you know, whatever is required of you to get started. And as you start moving further, you will get tremendous opportunities to learn many things. Not only by reading the books, by interacting with your seniors, by looking at the similar tasks done elsewhere. There are many ways of learning. And it's a good question that you have asked. Because, you know, many times I've seen our young friends that they get fascinated by doing something in their final year or fourth year and they feel that, 'Oh! I have specialized in this, I'm not getting the job.' No. I think you must be prepared to take any job that is given to you. That is the job of scientists and engineers.
Naman :
Thank you, Pragadheeshwar, for your question. So we have the next question from Mohammad Ayaan Khan from Mumbai.
Student Question :
My name is Muhammad Ayaan Khan and I'm from a Anjuman Islam Allana English high school. So my question is, why so much money invested in space exploration?
Dr. Suresh :
Yeah, you know, it's another good question. You know, anybody who listens to talk in space that is the question always one can expect. It's like a leakedquestion, I would put it that way. You know, you are not realising that the money that we spend and the money that we are able to give to the country. There was one study indicated by one professor Shankar of Madras school of Economics in Chennai. And he did it about eight or ten years back. And then, you know, that money that we are spending and then the amenities that we are providing to the country, if you really translate into real economies, he has concluded that for every paisa spent, I think the space has given something like three to four paisas back to the country. That's three to four times. So you may be surprised how it happens. You know, there are very many ways of doing that. For example, today the communication, the way in which we are getting connected across the country and across the globe. How are we to do that? You know, we have as many as 230-240 transponders and demand is something like five hundred transponders. All the broadcasting that you need for the various requirements in the country is linked by that. The financial sector. You know, all banks are linked through our own spacecraft. Then you look at the ATM's today. All ATMs are linked through our own satellite connections. Similarly, the share market is linked with that. So, you can see that our working in several years has gone in a bigger way. You know that disaster management, which is coming. I think all of you know that eastern coast, what happens every year is that a number of cyclones occur, because geographically it is located like that. It starts somewhere in the Bay of Bengal, and then, you know, anywhere it can strike from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh to Orissa, West Bengal, Bangladesh, Myanmar. Anywhere it can happen. 8-10 years ago, a huge Cyclone came and hit the Odisha coast. But then, the way in which we have, sort of, come out with the technology development today and also the understanding that we have with the state government and other missionaries, so happened that, you know, not a single life was lost. Same thing about 20 years ago, when we had not advanced technologies like that, 10,000 people at the same Orissa coast, they had lost their lives. Not only human lives, the animal lives, and many things. There are very many kinds of tangible and intangible benefits that come with the space program. So, the only thing is this is not so clearly visible. That's one of the reasons, you know, I mentioned earlier, Sarabhai said that we have to use advanced technologies. No doubt, they're expensive. But then we have to use it for the benefit of mankind. This is the benefit that we are giving in return.