To: Senor VS who wrote (4738 ) 6/27/1999 11:29:00 AM From: Mohan Marette Respond to
'success on a shoestring'-India's celestial ambitions-From cowshed to lift-off 202.54.32.164 Till 1963, Thumba would not have merited a second look. It was a typical Kerala fishing hamlet with boats stacked on the seafront and about 500 thatched houses set amidst coconut groves. In the midst of this cluster, about 25 km from Thiruvananthapuram, was the small Magdalene Church and the bishop's house adjacent to it. It is in this unlikely setting that India's soaring vision of harnessing space technology took shape........ “I knew we had to start from scratch, but was not prepared for what I saw. We were all sitting in this church building, and adjacent to it there was a cowshed. I was then shown my lab. It was this cowshed.” As an incentive, he was offered the use of a nearby cattle feed store!... (Mohan:This is the funny story,man this cracks me up.)rediff.com rediff.com isro.org 202.54.32.164 202.54.32.164 216.32.165.70 ..' However, commercialisation continues to be a low priority for Antrix's parent Organisation, ISRO, which continues to be a programme dedicated to serving national needs. "Developing our satellites and launchers for our own needs, to meet national objectives, is always our first priority," says ISRO chairman Dr K Kasturirangan. "But once that is done, we would be happy to earn back through commercialisation of some of the huge investment that the country has made into space research."
