GSLV-D5 launch could have been two decades ago, says Nambi Narayanan
Ex Isro scientist says US forced Russians not to part with technology, but gave India only hardware.
By : cynthia chandran
Update: 2014-01-06 08:29 GMT
Thiruvananthapuram: The success of the indigenously developed cryogenic engine on GSLV D5 rocket is the culmination of a long process which was initiated by Isro decades ago.
Former Isro scientist, Nambi Narayanan, who was falsely implicated in the infamous espionage case of 1994 and who was later exonerated by the Supreme Court in 1998, was elated when his ‘baby’ GSLV D5 took off with a deep roar from Sriharikota. Nambi Narayanan had been the head of the cryogenics division when he was arrested by the Kerala Police in 1994.
The former scientist was busy analysing the take off of GSLV D5 at the studio of a Malayalam news channel and was beaming when DC spoke to him.
“KVD 1 is the one and only oxygen/hydrogen liquid-propellant rocket engine in Russia known to have passed through fullscale ground testing routine. Though the Americans have the cryogenic technology, they don’t have the efficiency of our machine. We had a technological arrangement with Russians, but they told us that they did not want to give us the technology and we were left in the lurch in the last 13 years”, he said.
He alleged US pressure tactics had forced the Russians not to part with the technology, but instead gave India only the hardware. Nambi Narayan said this was particularly done so as to dampen the morale of Isro scientists.
He became sad when he said it was this same cryogenic technology which the Kerala Police had alleged that he had sold off to a foreign country. “They alleged in 1994 that I sold it and it was proved later that it was a blatant lie. Nineteen years were lost before we finally developed this technology.”