Episode 65: ISRO – The early years

Prof. UR Rao The Indian Space Research Organisation formally came
in to being in 1972. By then, India had been developing its space
program for almost a decade. The first launch to space from
Indian soil was a two stage Nike-Apache rocket supplied by USA with
a  sodium  payload from France. The rocket delivered a
vertical trail of sodium vapour in space above the twilight sky of
the south eastern coast of Kerala on 21st November 1963. In this
episode, professor UR Rao talks about his rich and diverse career.
Professor Rao completed his Phd under Dr Vikram Sarabhai, then went
on to work for NASA at MIT and in Texas exploring the Solar System
with instruments on NASA's Pioneer and Explorer spacecraft. He
returned to India at Sarabhai's request and, after heading the
Physical Research Laboratory, became the chairman of the Indian
Space Research Organisation in 1984. He served in that role until
1994. During his 81 years, he has contributed to many significant
areas of space and science exploration.  Several key
individuals associated with space and science research,
including CV Raman, Robert Millikan, Ed
Stone, Arthur Clark,  James Van Allen , Abdus
Salam and Vikram Sarabhai, were individuals he knew
personally, and some were colleagues. http://youtu.be/fiJ1yRrNRO8