My Science School

Dr. Kalam was appointed as the DRDOD rocket specialist on January 1, 1975. During his tenure, he directed two projects. They were Project Devil and Project Valiant, which were aimed at developing ballistic missiles using technology from the SLV programmes.

Aerodynamic, structural and environmental test facilities; liquid and solid propulsion facilities; fabrication and engineering facilities; control, guidance, and rubber component facilities, computer centres, ground and flight instrumentation, and onboard power supplies development facilities were all established along with Project Devil. The development of these components and systems for Project Devil laid the technology base for future IGMDP programmes.

Project Devil’s mission was to produce a short range surface-to-surface missile. Though the project was discontinued in 1980 without achieving its full success, it led to the development of the Prithvi missile in the 1980s.

On the other hand, the goal of Project Valiant was to produce an intercontinental ballistic missile, which also got discontinued in 1974 without achieving success. Project Valiant was considered a “failure” while its sister project, Project Devil, was a partial success.

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One of the most important projects by Dr. Kalam was SLV-3, a satellite launch vehicle. As the project director for the development of the indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle at ISRO, Dr. Kalam had put in over 10 years of hard work. His efforts ultimately resulted in the SLV-3 being one of the greatest scientific developments in kilometers and carry a 40 kg payload.

In August 1979, the first experimental flight of SLV-3 failed. Its first successful launch took place on 18 July, 1980. At 8.03 A. Mon 18 July 1980, the rocket SLV-3 blasted off from Sriharikota in Orissa with a 35 kg satellite, Rohini RS-1, launching India into the club of nations that could indigenously develop satellite launch technologies.

The SLV-3 was a 22-metre-long vehicle weighing 17 tonnes. It launched three Rohini satellites into orbit in 1980, 1981 and 1983. Since then India has marched forward in launch vehicle technology with advanced launch vehicles such as Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV), Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

Chandrayaan, India’s first unmanned lunar probe, was also launched by a modified version of the PSLV.

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Dr. Vikram Sarabhai wanted to develop a Rocket Assisted Take Off System (RATO) for military aircraft, to make take-off and landing easy in the Himalayan region. Approved by the then-prime minister and headed by Dr. Kalam, this project was completed within 18 months.

Along with fiberglass motor casing, Dr. Kalam incorporated safety measures into a diaphragm that expanded when the temperature was raised twice the normal rate. The construction of a missile panel in the Ministry of Defence was the second step during the RATO project. Dr. Kalam was one of the panelists. Since much of the equipment had to be imported and was costly, Dr. Kalam instructed his assistants to create their own parts!

On October 8, 1972, the RATO system was successfully launched at the Bareilly Air Force Station. Dr. Kalam, by using local parts, saved approximately 40 million rupees in foreign exchange. The Indian RATO was much cheaper than its counterpart in other countries.

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Dr. Sarabhai and his fellow scientists including Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam visited Thumba to talk with the then-Bishop of Trivandrum, who lived next to the church. They requested permission to use the church and the nearby land for scientific purposes.

With the support of the parishioners to provide the land for scientific use, the bishop agreed to their proposal. His home was quickly converted into an office; the church into a workshop and the cattle sheds into storage houses and laboratories. Even with little funding and few facilities, the enthusiastic scientists were all set to build their first rocket.

In the early stages, Thumba had no proper facilities such as canteen or vehicular transport. Jeeps were reserved for technical assistance and so moving around was either by foot or cycle.

The story of how India staged its first launch of a Nike-apache rocket supplied by NASA, is forever etched in the mind of Indians with the image of Vikram Sarabhai, APJ Kalam and fellow scientists passionately carrying the payload and rocket parts in carts and bicycles to the launch pad.

At the end of six months of hard work, on 21 November 1963, India was ready for its very first rocket launch. Along with the governor of Kerala, the district collector and the bishop, many other eminent figures in science and technology had gathered for the occasion, including Dr Homi Bhabha (the father of Indian nuclear programme) and Dr P R Pisharoty the founder-director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

When everything was set to go, the air was thick with tension and excitement for the launch. Just as the rocket was rolled on to the launch pad, things started going south. The hydraulic crane developed a leak and it was tackled by manually shifting it into position. The remote system of the launcher also malfunctioned. All of these were fixed and things finally seemed in order. As the alarm sounded to clear the area around the launch pad, the scientists held their breath to witness the moment they had been waiting for.

At 6.25 pm, India made history as the rocket streaked away into the dimming sky. High up in the sky, a sodium vapour cloud emerged, which looked orange in the setting Sun.

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Dr. Kalam was part of India’s first rocket launch, which happened in 1963, soon after his return from the U.S. It was a great learning experience for Dr. Kalam to work with Dr. Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Programme. His vision helped India achieve the milestone of successfully launching its first rocket.

Until 1963, the village of Thumba would not have attracted a second look. It was a typical Kerala fishing hamlet and was quite an unlikely setting for a rocket launch. In the village, a small church dedicated to St Mary Magdalene caught the attention of Dr. Sarabhai, because it was located on Earth’s magnetic equator.

The magnetic equator is an imaginary line around the planet that connects all the points where a magnetic needle, when freely suspended, is horizontal. The magnetic equator is scientifically a very important location, where the Equatorial Electrojet exists, which is a stream of electrons moving across the sky at about 110-120 km above the Earth’s Surface.

The sounding rockets sent out by any space programme, test and study these electrons for research in the field of physics. These rockets are the first steps to establish a full fledged space programme. The low-altitude of Thumba’s location was ideal for upper atmosphere and ionosphere studies.

Thus, Thumba became an ideal site for a rocket launching centre.

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On 23 February 1962, the Indian National Committee for Space Research or INCOSPAR was established by the Government of India. Post independence, the country’s politicians and scientists began to understand the importance of space and rocket technology for India. Our first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru saw a lot of potential in rocket science and he was keen on developing proper policy on space exploration activities. Nehru recognized the importance of science and technology for the development of the nation.

The U.S.S.R launched the first artificial satellite called the Sputnik, and this made people realize the potential of satellites. This also propelled Nehru to put space research under the governance of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) in 1961. The DAE was founded and then headed by Homi J Bhabha, a veteran nuclear scientist. Bhabha created the Indian National Committee for Space Research or INCOSPAR in February 1962 along with Vikram Sarabhai as its Chairman.

Under the brilliant guidance of Sarabhai, INCOSPAR organised space research activities and formulated India’s space programme. The committee also took up the responsibilities of DAE related to space research.

During its inception, INCOSPAR was part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) led by Prof. MGK Menon. As we mentioned earlier, Dr. Kalam was a Rocket Engineer there and when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was formed out of INCOSPAR in 1969, he became of part of the ISRO. In 1972, ISRO came under the newly-created Department of Space.

Although we are familiar with Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam’s various accomplishments, there are some that are less talked about. One among them is a hovercraft called Nandi. Nandi was developed in India and is the first of its kind. It was named after Lord Shiva’s bull Nandi. This project was almost completely led by Dr. Kalam at the Aeronautical Development Establishment in Bangalore, a laboratory of DRDO.

When this project was assigned to him, Dr. Kalam had little knowledge of how to design such a craft. He wasn’t sure of the kind of propeller that would be necessary for the aircraft. In order to study that, Kalam spent the next 10 Sundays visiting a professor in IISC, Bangalore learning to perfect the design. By the end of his learning, Project Nandi was not only successful but was also ahead of schedule with a working prototype.

But by this time, VK Krishna Menon was no longer the Minister of Defence and this project was put on hold by the government. But it was not a waste of effort as the hovercraft program captured the interest of Prof. MGK Menon, the Director of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, who called Dr. Kalam for an interview. Prof. Menon was very impressed with the work of Dr. Kalam and in a week’s time, Kalam was offered the post of rocket engineer at the Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR).

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In 1958, when Dr. Kalam came out of HAL as a graduate of aeronautical engineering, he had two options for employment in flying. One was the job at the Directorate of Technical Development and Production (DTD&P) (Air) of the Ministry of Defence and another was a career in the Indian Air Force. He had applied to both the places and received interview calls simultaneously.

He went to Delhi for an interview with DTD&P, in which he performed well because of his knowledge in the subject. Then he went to Dehradun for the interview with the Air Force Selection Board. But here, the interview was more on personality rather than testing his knowledge. He came ninth in the batch of 25, and the first eight officers were selected to be commissioned in the Air Force.

After returning to Delhi, Kalam received his appointment letter from DTD&P and he joined as Senior Scientific Assistant the very next day with a basic salary of Rs. 250 per month. At DTD&P, he was posted at the Technical Centre (Civil Aviation). During his initial years in the Directorate, he worked on supersonic target aircraft with the help of his officer-in-charge, R. Varadharajan, which got him the appreciation of the Director, Dr. Neelakantan. Then he was sent to the Aircraft and Armament Testing Unit (AP&ATU) at Kanpur to get shop-floor exposure to aircraft maintenance.

In 1968, the groups of officers under the Chief Resident Engineer of DTD&P were brought under the control of DRDO. Thus, Dr. Kalam became a part of DRDO.

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Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam studied at the Schwartz Higher Secondary School in Ramanathapuram. Though he had only average grades, he had the mindset to work harder. Kalam was aware of his father’s dream of him becoming an IAS officer and wanted to fulfil it. At the age of 15, he met lyadurai Solomon, who became a perfect guide for the young boy. Solomon told Abdul Kalam that a hard worker like him would be able to achieve anything with the power of education. He inspired young Kalam, who had high hopes for the future.

While studying at Schwartz he grew up as a confident boy. He was determined to succeed and fulfil his parents’ dream. Later he joined St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirapalli, in 1950 and gave his intermediate examinations. When he was in his final year at St. Joseph’s, Kalam started to love English literature. He was very fond of reading great classics by writers like Tolstoy and Thomas Hardy; he even developed an inclination towards philosophy. It was by this time that he also developed an interest in Physics. Prof. Chinna Durai and Prof. Krishnamurthy, who were his Physics teachers at St. Joseph’s, introduced him to the beautiful and intriguing concepts of Physics.

He had a very limited knowledge about other subjects when he was at St. Joseph’s college and soon realized that the subject he enjoyed the most was engineering. So he applied to the Madras Institute of Technology (MIT). Although he was on the merit list, the institute was very expensive. His sister Zohra had to sell her gold ornaments to send him to study there.

At MIT, young Kalam was intrigued by the numerous aircraft that were on display. He opted for aeronautical engineering after his first year at MIT. In the institute, Kalam was working on a senior class project, and his Dean was dissatisfied with the lack of progress. He asked Kalam to finish the project within the next three days. Kalam met the deadline, impressing the Dean, who later said to him, “l was putting you under stress and asking you to meet a difficult deadline”.

After completing his third year at MIT, Kalam joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bangalore, as a trainee. He worked on piston and turbine engines at HAL as a part of a team. Here he came to know about the technical aspects of an aircraft.

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Inspired by his teacher and driven by his passion for studies, young Kalam wanted to leave Rameswaram because this place did not offer any options for higher education. It only had an elementary school, and in order to study further, he had to go to the district headquarters at Ramanathapuram, which had many educational facilities.

Kalam’s father was not an educated man but he understood the significance of education. He did not want to stop the growth of his children in any way; so, he willingly allowed Kalam to go to Ramanathapuram to pursue higher studies. He never expressed his opinions in words, but he trusted his son’s decision to grow. Kalam’s father knew that just like the birds that leave their nests to fly across the skies, children must be allowed to leave home and find their place in the world outside.

Apart from accepting it himself, his father convinced Kalam’s mother by quoting Khalil Gibran. It was a quote that meant that all human beings must be given the opportunity to build their life as per their wishes and that parents should not stop them in their efforts.

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Dr. Kalam had his early Schooling at the Rameshwaram Elementary School. His then teacher, Sivasubramania Iyer hailed from an orthodox Brahmin family, but he was very broadminded. He was a rebel who wanted the society to change, and was ready to face the challenges on the way. In one of the incidents, his wife refused to serve food to young Kalam, whom he had invited to his home. As a response, he himself served the boy and went on to invite the boy the next weekend as well.

Although Kalam was reluctant to visit Iyer’s home, this time he was welcomed by Iyer’s wife and she took him to the kitchen and served him food with her own hands. This was a great instance where Iyer reformed his wife not by force but by setting an example. Sivasubramania Iyer refused to believe that caste and religion segregate people and advised Kalam to be prepared to face such situations if he wished to change the system.

Iyer was also a dedicated teacher and established a good rapport with his students. He encouraged them to aim higher. He encouraged young Kalam to study further and to develop so that he could be “on par with the highly educated people of the big cities.”

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“Every child is born, with some inherited characteristics, into a specific socio-economic and emotional environment, and trained in certain ways by figures of authority,” wrote Dr. Kalam in his autobiography, Wings of Fire.

Dr. Kalam always understood that the acceptance of religions was a way of life and that we live in a society where religions confluence. Young Kalam had three close friends, all three of them from orthodox Brahmin families. Though from different backgrounds and up-bringing, his friendship with Ramanadha Sastry, Aravindan, and Sivaprakasan never had any problems.

All of them chose different ways of life in their adulthood as well. Ramanadha Sastry, who was the son of Pakshi Lakshmana Sastry, the high priest of the Rameswaram temple, took over the priesthood of the Rameswaram temple from his father. Aravindan went into the business of arranging transport for visiting pilgrims, Sivaprakasan became a catering contractor for the Southern Railways, and Kalam went on to become a scientist.

Another interesting story in Dr. Kalam’s upbringing is that his family used to arrange boats with a special platform during the annual Shri Sita Rama Kalyanam ceremony. This platform was used for carrying the idols of Lord Rama from the temple to the ceremonial wedding site ‘Ram Tirtha’, which was a pond near Kalam’s house. Young Kalam grew up listening to the stories both from the Ramayana and the life of the Prophet Muhammed, laying the foundation of secularism very early in his life.

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A person knows the value of work when he has been through difficult times and has survived on simple jobs. Dr. Kalam used to collect tamarind seeds and sell them during the Second World War. He also worked as a newspaper boy.

Kalam was only eight years old when the Second World War broke out. It was the year 1939 and there was a huge demand for tamarind seeds in the market. He collected them and sold them for an anna, a very small coin, but substantial for a young boy like him.

His brother-in-law Jallaluddin used to tell him stories about the war and young Kalam would try to follow these stories through the pages of Dinamani, a Tamil newspaper. Although Rameswaram was not directly impacted by the war as it was an isolated island, trains stopped halting at the station. This meant bundles of newspapers were now thrown off running trains. Kalam’s cousin Samsuddin, who used to distribute the newspapers in Rameswaram, asked Kalam’s help to catch the bundles, and he thus started working as a newspaper boy.

Kalam earned his first wages in this work and it gave him a great sense of self-confidence and pride.

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Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was born to a Tamil family from Rameswaram on 15 October, 1931. Rameswaram was then part of the Madras Presidency in British India but it is now in Tamil Nadu. His father’s name was Jainulabdeen, who was a boat owner and imam of a local mosque. His mother was Ashiamma, a housewife.

Abdul Kalam was the youngest of five siblings. His eldest sibling was his sister Asim Zohra. He had three elder brothers, namely Mohammed Muthu Meera Lebbai Maraikayar, Mustafa Kalam and Kasim Mohammed. He was close to his family and always helped them while remaining a bachelor his whole life.

His ancestors were wealthy traders and landowners, who owned numerous properties and large areas of land. They traded groceries between the mainland and the Pamban Island and between the island and Sri Lanka. They also ferried the pilgrims from the mainland to the Pamban Island. This tradition earned their family the title “Mara Kalam lyakkivar” (wooden boat steerers), to be later known as “Maraikayar.”

Unfortunately, in the 1920s, his family lost most of its fortune, and by the time Kalam was born, the family was poverty-stricken.

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History has shown us that great men are not born every day. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam was one such legend who left his mark on the world and people’s hearts.

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, also known as APJ Abdul Kalam was a scientist who had great dreams for the country. He worked as a science administrator and scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) for over forty years before becoming the president of the country. His contributions to the military missile development efforts and civilian space programme of India earned him the title ‘The Missile Man of India.’ His contributions to developing the launch vehicle technology of ballistic missiles are particularly noteworthy. In 1998, he played a critical role in the Pokhran-II Nuclear Tests.

Later in 2002, he was elected the 11th president of India and was widely known as the ‘People’s President.’ He was the first scientist to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan. After serving his tenure as the president, he went on to pursue teaching, writing and reading-his most passionate vocations. He was honoured with the ‘Bharat Ratna Award’, India’s highest civilian honour, for his contributions.

He died on 27 July 2015 while delivering a talk at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong. He was laid to rest with full state honours with thousands of people attending the funeral.

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