Poorna Chandra Award For Chandrayaan - 1 Director
Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 M. Annadurai (centre) receives the Poorna Chandra Award from the President of the Rotary Club of Coimbatore West M. Alagiriswamy(second left) at a function organised by the Rotary Clubs in Coimbatore and the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, on Monday. Former Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission M.R. Srinivasan (third left) and the Coimbatore District Collector V. Palanikumar(fourth left) are in the picture. Rotary Clubs of Coimbatore and Government College of Technology (GCT) honoured M. Annadurai, Project Director of Chandrayaan-1 by conferring on him the “Poorna Chandra” award here on Monday. The award was for “successfully manoeuvring Chandrayaan-1 into the lunar orbit for expanding the scientific knowledge about the moon, upgrading India’s technological capability and providing challenging opportunities for planetary research for the younger generation, which will be the forerunner to India’s first manned mission to the moon”.
Receiving the award from M. Alagiriswamy, President, Rotary Coimbatore West, Mr. Annadurai said he was accepting it not for what he had achieved, but for what he was going to achieve. “Chandrayaan-1 is just the beginning. There will be more steps. I accept this felicitation on behalf of my fellow scientists and all those who have stood behind me in this achievement”.
Speaking on the sidelines to presspersons on the difference between earlier moon missions and the current one, Mr. Annadurai said the missions by other countries only aimed at landing on the moon, while Chandrayaan 1’s mission was to systematically land its Moon Impact Probe on the lunar surface. “Fertile area where water was likely to be available for surviving for long durations was identified before landing it. The probe will explore the Polar Regions and systematically map the moon for putting man on the moon in the future”. It was also trying to send pictures in a continuous stream rather than frame by frame shots which had been the practice so far.
Besides, the present programme and all the future Indian moon missions would be cost-effective. M.R. Srinivasan, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, lauded the leadership of Mr. Annadurai on behalf of the entire scientific community in guiding the mission. “It is important that schools and colleges, however small, should concentrate on science education and produce more such Annadurais. Only this will make India achieve in the field of space and science”.
B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Coimbatore Kendra, said: “Economists promised us the moon, but they have only brought us doom. But, our scientists have given us the moon. Mr. Annadurai has realised the dream of our former President Abdul Kalam”. Collector V. Palanikumar, Principal of GCT S. Annadurai, former Principal K.N. Shanmughasundram, and President of GCT Alumni Association A. Anwar Basha, were among those who offered felicitations.
