Builders
Dr Brahm Prakash helped me endure this difficult period . In practice , Dr Brahm Prakash employed the frontline damage control principle : “ Just get the fellow home alive . He ’ ll recover .” He drew the entire SLV team close and demonstrated to me that I was not alone in my sorrow at the SLV-3 ’ s failure . “ All your comrades are standing by you ,” he said . This gave me vital emotional support , encouragement , and guidance .
A post-flight review conducted on 11 August 1979 was attended by more than seventy scientists . A detailed technical appraisal of the failure was completed . Later , the post-flight analysis committee headed by SK Athithan pinpointed the reasons for the malfunction of the vehicle . It was established that the mishap occurred because of the failure of the second stage control system . No control force was available during the second stage flight due to which the vehicle became aerodynamically unstable , resulting in altitude and velocity loss . This caused the vehicle to fall into the sea even before the other stages could ignite .
Further in-depth analysis of the second-stage failure identified the reason as the draining of a good amount of Red Fuming Nitric Acid ( RFNA ) used as the oxidizer for the fuel power at that stage . Consequently , when the control force was demanded , only fuel was injected resulting in zero force . ‘ A solenoid valve in the oxidizer tank remaining open due to contamination after the first command at T-8 minutes ’, was identified as the reason for the draining of RFNA .
The findings were presented to Prof . Dhawan at a meeting of top ISRO scientists and were accepted . Everybody was convinced by the technical cause-andeffect sequence presented and there was a general feeling of satisfaction about the whole exercise of failuremanagement measures taken . I was still unconvinced though and felt restless . To me , the level of responsibility is measured by one ’ s ability to confront the decision-making process without any delay or distraction .
On the spur of the moment , I stood up and addressed Prof . Dhawan , “ Sir , even though my friends have technically justified the failure , I take the responsibility for judging the RFNA leak detected during the final phase of countdown as insignificant . As a Mission Director , I should have put the launch on hold and saved the flight if possible . In a similar situation abroad , the Mission Director would have lost his job . I therefore take responsibility for the SLV-3 failure .” For quite some time there was pin-drop silence in the hall . Then Prof . Dhawan got up and said , “ I am going to put Kalam in orbit !”, and left the place signalling that the meeting was over .
The pursuit of science is a combination of great elation and great despair . I went over many such episodes in my mind . Johannes Kepler , whose three orbital laws form the basis of space research , took nearly 17 years after formulating the two laws about planetary motion around the sun , to enunciate his third law which gives the relation between the size of the elliptical orbit and the length of time it takes for the planet to go around the sun . How many failures and frustrations must he have gone through ? The idea that man could land on the moon , developed by the Russian mathematician Konstantin Tsiolkovsky , was realised after nearly four decades — and by the United States , at that . Prof . Chandrasekhar had to wait nearly 50 years before receiving the Nobel Prize for his discovery of