Annadurai, Mylswamy

Mylswamy Annadurai, byname Moon Man, (born July 2, 1958, Kodhawady, Tamil Nadu, India), Indian aerospace engineer who held a number of posts with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), including the directorship (2015–18) of the U R Rao Satellite Centre (formerly the ISRO Satellite Centre).

Following his early education in his native village, Annadurai in 1980 earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Government College of Engineering in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. In 1982 he received a master’s degree from the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore. He later was awarded honorary doctorates from several universities and was the recipient of numerous awards.

Annadurai joined ISRO in 1982. He served as spacecraft operations manager for the IRS (Indian Remote Sensing)-1A, IRS-1B, INSAT (Indian National Satellite System)-2A, and INSAT-2B satellite programs. He then held the post of deputy project director prior to being promoted to mission director of the INSAT-2C program and of the INSAT-2D, 2E, 3B, 3E, and GSAT (Geosynchronous Satellite)-1 programs.

Beginning in 2004, Annadurai was program director for India’s lunar probes Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2. Chandrayaan-1 was launched from Sriharikota Island, India, on October 22, 2008, by a PSLV-C11 launch vehicle. It had a mass at liftoff of 1,380 kg (3,042 pounds), including a 55-kg (121-pound) payload that contained 11 scientific instruments from India and several other countries. The estimated life of the mission was two years. The craft entered lunar orbit on November 8, and on November 14 the Moon Impact Probe, which contained three instruments, was released; it hit near the lunar South Pole. Contact with the probe was abruptly lost on August 28, 2009, and three days later ISRO officially declared the project terminated.

As the project director (2011–15) of the IRS and Small Satellites Systems (SSS) schemes, Annadurai led five projects. His most highly publicized post was serving as program director of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), which was launched in November 2013 and entered Mars orbit in September 2014. ISRO thereby became the fourth space agency—after NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the European Space Agency—to launch a successful Mars mission.

In addition to performing his research and administrative duties, Annadurai wrote a popular science column for the Tamil newspaper Kungumam and lectured on science in an effort to interest young Indians in taking up scientific careers.