10 Iconic ISRO Photos You Must See | HuffPost

The Indian space programme has the unique distinction of being born in a place of worship: the St. Mary Magdalene Church in Thumba, a fishing hamlet near Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. From those humble beginnings in 1963, the national space programme grew under the visionary guidance of Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan to become a technological giant, known today as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Sarabhai created ISRO in 1969.

This year, 2019, marks the birth centenary of Sarabhai and the 50th anniversary of ISRO. This book celebrates the double anniversary through over 370 photographs, curated by the authors from a collection of over 2000. Some of them have never been seen before by the public, while others are eye-catchingly beautiful.

This is the story of ISRO told through images.

TIFR Archives

Homi Bhabha (glass in one hand and other on the table) showing Prime Minister Nehru the model of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR).

TIFR Archives

Vikram Sarabhai, the newly appointed Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, addressing employees of the Atomic Energy Establishment, gathered to condole the death of Homi Bhabha, who was killed in an air crash on Mount Blanc on 24 January 1966.

CR Sathya

The photograph of the rocket nose cone on a bicycle taken by Henri Cartier-Bresson soon went viral in the media. On the right: engineer, CR Sathya. His assistant, Velappan Nair, is taking care of the nose cone.

APJ Abdul Kalam briefing the Space Commission members in SHAR (8 August 1978).

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ISRO's biggest sounding rocket, RH-560, on the launcher in SHAR. The two persons standing akimbo are Satish Dhawan (left) and YJ Rao.

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Aryabhata was helicopter-borne for testing the telemetry system in Sriharikota Range (SHAR).

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While Vikram Sarabhai laid the foundation for ISRO, Satish Dhawan was the main architect who transformed ISRO into a technological giant in the country. Here, Dhawan is seen addressing the staff of VSSC on the eve of his retirement as Chairman of ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space. He retired in 1984.

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Celebrating the first successful launch of PSLV. Project Director G Madhavan Nair acknowledging greetings from colleagues.

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Mars Orbiter spacecraft mounted on top of the PSLV, just before heat-shield closure.

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Prime Minister AB Vajpayee seen against the background of the fully integrated INSAT-2E.

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ISRO

Excerpted with permission from Ever Upwards: ISRO in Images, P V Manoranjan Rao, B N Suresh, V P Balagangadharan, Universities Press.

isro Space Jawaharlal Nehru Homi Bhabha APJ Abdul Kalam

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