An Odyssey to Lunar Triumph - Dr.S.Sunil Kumar
The late evening of 23rd August 2023 is etched in the memory of every Indian as a day of great pride as Chandrayaan-III lander “Pragyan” made a soft touchdown on the lunar surface.
The lunar regolith welcomed the arrival with a copious spray of lunar dust.
But the mood in the control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network ISTRAC, Bangalore since the afternoon was one of great expectation and suspense as the de-boost activities were about to be initiated. This comes after the failure of Chandrayaan-II to make a controlled landing on the moon at the last moment.
The corrections and several improvements made subsequently were simulated repeatedly ensuring fallback plans have made Chandrayaan-III a robust vehicle. One of my teams which had developed the complex throttleable thrust control electronics for this operation had nail-biting moments. There was also another team that had done thermal modeling of the lander during its descent considering multiple plume impingements in highly rarified conditions.
The “19 minutes of terror” gave way to a moment of great relief and satisfaction once the objective was met. This is the culmination of the hard work of several teams across various Centres of ISRO who worked hand-in-hand with the Project team. The impact of this success in the resurgence of scientific interest it created in the common man and more importantly in the younger student community will surely have a great influence on the technology roadmap of the country.
As an alumnus of the Institute (PhD Mechanical Engineering, 1993), the global reach of this success was evident from the number of queries, clarifications, and congratulatory messages received from across the continents, as IITians are the great ambassadors of the Country.
Bio:
Dr. S Sunil Kumar took his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1993. Before Joining ISRO in 1995, he had brief stints at Fluid Control Research Institute, Palghat and at Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi. Currently, he is the Deputy Director of Liquid Propulsion systems Centre, ISRO heading the Advanced Propulsion Research activities including their control electronics. His field of expertise include radiation Heat Transfer, Combustion, Cryogenics and Electric Propulsion. He has made significant contributions towards the development of complex Cryogenic engines and science missions to the Moon and Mars. He was instrumental in finding solutions to many critical technical problems that arose during the PSLV and GSLV programs. He is also responsible for the development of Electric Propulsion Systems for All Electric Propulsion Satellite Project. Considering his significant contributions, several performance awards had been conferred on him including the prestigious ISRO Merit Award.
He has more than 100 research publications in refereed high impact factor international journals and guided many research scholars through their PhD. He is also a reviewer of many international journals and had delivered several invited talks in National and International forums. He is the founder and President of the Indian Society for Heat and Mass Transfer Kerala Chapter and is a member of several National and International bodies. The prestigious International conference on heat and mass transfer (IHMTC-2015) was organized under his stewardship very successfully in 2015. He is also the founder of a charitable society which has helped hundreds of needy downtrodden towards meeting their medical and educational requirements.
