(Image courtesy: Pallava Bagla)

A billion hearts are beating. The countdown to Chandrayaan, India's maiden mission to the moon is ongoing. We have with us Mylswamy Annadurai, the project director for Chandrayaan- a man who is very young, has big dreams and wants to take India where Indians have never gone before.

Pallava Bagla: How are you feeling today? Close to Chandrayaan launch?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, I feel excited and anxious along with my team which is recharged to a spacecraft which is almost nearing completion stage and the team is fully charged.

Pallava Bagla: And how is the state of readiness? Are you sure that the aircraft will go to the moon?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, the spacecraft is concerned, I think we are fully ready, fully tested system and final testing will also be completed. The spacecraft will be ready and along with the PSLV we will make a good journey and PSLV puts orbit through and spacecraft is fully loaded, efficient, and take us all the way to the moon and due is life about 2 years from the moon.

Pallava Bagla: So what do you want to study with this Chandrayaan?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah we want to, basically we want to provide inputs, data to our Indian scientific community as well as the international community to what moon is. This is what the people reconnaissance of the moon is concerned. A renaissance has taken place, is taking place, and accordingly we would like to provide with a gadget of instruments, we would like to give the moon, look at the moon in such a different way from all that is visible to high end X-ray and what moon contains and what is the chemical composition, whether moon has a water or ice. Whether it is there, or at what depth? So this sort of quantum of, we will have to, we will be able to provide the data to the science community.

Pallava Bagla: People have stepped on the moon. What is there left to study at all? Why are we going there?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, people have stepped on the moon, but they stepped only 5-6 locations. Even if somebody comes to Bangalore, if somebody lands in MG Road, he will think busy road, if somebody lands in the IISC (Indian Institute of Science) he will think something else, even within Bangalore within ISRO he will get different feeling. So that is how it is. Whole world, wherever he lands, Himalayas, whatever he sees, he will go back. Same is the case with the moon. They landed on a very few places. Brought back stones and soil but moon is much broader. So just stepping in one place we cannot tell that. Whereas our craft, though it is unmanned, we will be able to, each and every inch of the moon will be explored by all scientific instruments so we will have tell full moon systematically. Even each and every part we will be able to see. That is the difference.

Pallava Bagla: So we don't have a full map of the moon till now, which is what you are hoping to provide
Mylswamy Annadurai: As on today we don't have a full map to the resolutions what you are looking for, to the level what you are looking for. The chemical and mineral mapping of the whole moon to the resolutions our gadgets will provide, we don't have a map. That way this mission is going to be unparalleled.

Pallava Bagla: So it is a unique mission?
Mylswamy Annadurai: It is a unique mission.

Pallava Bagla: It is not a waste of money
Mylswamy Annadurai: Absolutely not!

Pallava Bagla: The taxpayer can be happy that his money is being spent well?
Mylswamy Annadurai: The taxpayer can definitely feel proud his money has been in a spent very-very worthwhile way even beyond the earth atmosphere.

Pallava Bagla: Because it is costing about 400 crores which compared to other missions it is a very cheap mission. Is that right?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, our mission is more cost effective. Compared to other missions we are carrying more instruments.

Pallava Bagla: So Annadurai are you anxious that all these instruments will work in unison, in concordance on the moon?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, in a way when the bay makes its first walk that anxiety is there. A similar thing is there, but however I think the whole team has put a lot of effort, we have ensured that each and every instrument has been interfaced, tested, the data has been deciphered on background, the way it is supposed to come in each one of the instruments. And each one of the instruments, the scientists have certified their interface is okay. So we will not have much of an issue and the spacecraft goes and we are getting the instrument data one by one. I think we will be able to give high quality data as far as the scientist community is concerned.

Pallava Bagla: In this spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 you also have instruments from other countries. You are flying instruments from which countries sir?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Oh we are flying, the countries we are flying from in USA country, one from West coast and from East coast. Within Europe we are flying one from UK, another one coming from Germany, Max Planck Institute and we have another one combined from Sweden and Norway and of course Japanese also we have small contribution. And we have another small country Bulgaria - it is also contributing for one of the instruments.

Pallava Bagla: So many country instruments accommodated on a purely Indian mission?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah absolutely. Basically we decided it is Indian national mission with international participation.

Pallava Bagla: And how difficult was it to accommodate these instruments?
Mylswamy Annadurai: More than difficult we have taken it more as challenging. See the work cultures, leaving alone the countries because it is different space agencies working. The way in which NASA works, the way in which ESA (European Space Agency) works, the way in which JAXA (Japanese Space Agency) works, the way in which Bulgarian space science works is quite different from the way in which ISRO works. Accommodating each one of them, accommodating their own requirements in a compact mission like Chandrayaan-1 is quite challenging, difficult.

Pallava Bagla: So you managed it finally. So all of these instruments are accommodated. The golden baby is ready?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah absolutely ready. But with a young and energetic team working with me, we have made it possible.

Pallava Bagla: In your team you mentioned, you yourself are very young. Is your team also very young like you?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah it is, they are I think even younger then me. Our team is a young and energetic team, there is a team which is going to take India, the continuity of the planetary mission is concerned, I think hopefully our leaders have taken that into consideration to make sure that this team continues so that our planetary exploration, India is concerned, we are able to continue further than Chandrayaan-1, that means 2, 3 yet to come, this team will have to take over.

Pallava Bagla: Because you just completed your fiftieth birthday, which is in ISRO parlance, in Indian scientific community a very young person?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, relatively I am younger among comparing many of my senior colleagues are concerned, but my team also equally younger as far as this particular mission which is taking part is concerned. We feel equally as far as overall working is concerned. Everything going on.

Pallava Bagla: So was this a conscious choice by ISRO leadership?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Under hindsight, possibly that would happen, possibly that may be a choice they can sit and look back, but I am not clear. But hindsight you can say possibly that would have been to, from the continuity point of view probably ISRO leadership would have taken this choice of young team.

Pallava Bagla: And when they gave you this mantle to lead on Chandrayaan, what did you feel at that point? So many years ago
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually everyone's mind, like anybody's mind, I think moon was in a dream. I think that day I felt as if I was dreaming. And Dr. Madhavan Nair called and indicated possibly I could be project director and sometime later he handed over this thing. I felt really am I dreaming? But anyhow now it has become reality, four years afterwards. We are seeing a full baby of Chandrayaan-1 with that glittering colors, is on the launch pad ready to go.

Pallava Bagla: So Annadurai, where did you have your schooling and what impact did you have in your village? What did you see? Did you dream that you will be able to see stars and moons and go close to them in a mission like this?
Mylswamy Annadurai:Yeah, I think I was born and brought up where school age is concerned in a small village called Kodavadi near Coimbatore and unlike the cities of here, a village like Kodavadi, I think until my age of seven I did not see street lights even in my village.

Pallava Bagla: What did you not see?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Streetlights.

Pallava Bagla: No streetlights for first seven years of your life!
Mylswamy Annadurai: And I have the ample opportunity to look at the skies, the moon and stars are concerned. It is like a natural planetarium. I, we had a very good night out.

Pallava Bagla: Oh so there was no light pollution so your village acted like a planetarium?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Exactly, exactly. It is more like a natural planetarium for me when in my younger age when my mother and grandma is trying to feed me. So we had a very good sight of moon. So probably I have grown up in that environment. Now fortunately, I think because of Gods gift I was destined to do, work in a mission like Chandrayaan-1.

Pallava Bagla: And where did you study? Did you study in any of these high flying IIT's or MIT or CALTECH?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Unfortunately I was not destined but I don't have a regret of not being there. Full and full my study, I think until I complete my post graduation in engineering I have not gone beyond my district.

Pallava Bagla: So till your post graduation you were in your own district, which is Coimbatore?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, even for educational tour I have not gone out. Full on full I was post graduate, until completion of post graduate I was almost confined within my district.

Pallava Bagla: And from there you were able to study and imbibe enough to be able to today lead on a dream project for India?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah. Possibly as I told here the free atmosphere what I have, the way in which I taught out, I think until my age, until I entered into college, I think I was studying in my own mother tongue. So freedom of thinking, freedom of thought, freedom of expression and the way in which it lingered has gone through okay, and I don't see much issue as now we are working in this particular environment. I didn't see anything which I lacked, which I missed, that I am not feeling. I feel I think as good as anybody else.

Pallava Bagla: And what is kind of background your family has? I am told they are humble people
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, in a way yes. Actually my father is a primary school teacher. I think he was one among the few persons who got through beyond SSC in his age. And I happen to be the first engineer from my own village and from my family is concerned.

Pallava Bagla: So from your family you are the first engineer
Mylswamy Annadurai: In my whole village I am the first engineer, in my family also first engineer.

Pallava Bagla: Are you happy that you have been given such a responsible job?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Absolutely. There is no doubt on that.

Pallava Bagla: And you have enjoyed every moment of it?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Every bit of my stay in ISRO I am enjoying.

Pallava Bagla: I am told in making this Chandrayaan mission there were times when you have not taken holidays or gone on vacation for long time. Is that correct?
Mylswamy Annadurai: In a way it is correct. Not only me, it is the whole team I have, I can name, I have a fair number of people, they have not gone on holidays and there are many people, they have not gone even nearby places for very many months. Not only me, many of our team members, they have sacrificed their holidays, and they worked together, their thing is when we can do Chandrayaan-1 around the moon.

Pallava Bagla: So vacations and holidays you have continued to work towards this mission. Is that what I am hearing from you?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, vacations and holidays we have missed, but people enjoyed every bit of working. Basically whatever the holidays and vacations we fill it up, we are treating every bit of working is, we never feel it is working. We are basically working on a baby, and a growing baby inch by inch we have seen in last four years. And many of our team members feel they are part and parcel of our system and they are getting more and more bigger as the baby grows. As on today, I think many people work without going on holidays.

Pallava Bagla: So you come from a regional engineering college. In your team are most people from colleges which have chip on their shoulders like IIT's and other well known institutions, or they are also from places which are not so well known?
Mylswamy Annadurai: I think majority of the people working with me, the engineers and scientists working with me, majority of them is like me who are coming from regional engineering colleges, even to the level of government engineering colleges people are working, and I am seeing each of them are able to contribute what is assigned to him, and their enthusiasm is something unparalleled. As I see here their enthusiasm is much more than beyond their age. Definitely it is true.

Pallava Bagla: And how many people do you have in your team for Chandrayaan-1?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Okay, my team is overall, basically it something called the matrix management ISRO is concerned.

Pallava Bagla: Roughly numbers sir. And ISRO management is a little complex?
AD: Yeah, yeah..

Pallava Bagla: But how many numbers? 100, 200, 500 people?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Around 200 people would have directly contributed to this mission is concerned. But we have various spectrum of people. So the whole of ISRO, sometime or other, some form of or other contribution has done for this mission is concerned

Pallava Bagla: And all of them have worked together, worked long hours to get this baby at this stage of readiness?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, it is basically the team spirit in which it is working. Long hours is one aspect, another aspect is the team spirit, enthusiasm in which they are able to put longer hours is very good. That is the reason we are though elsewhere we talk about actually in a planetary mission like Chandrayaan I, four and a half years is a very very small amount of time. If you look at anybody else, like the LRO or Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter most that was announced along with our time, their launch is about six months away from ours. So within the short time people are able to realize this because they work enthusiastically, longer hours they put into their effort

Pallava Bagla: And in your team do you have women members?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, we have equal opportunities in this particular mission. Not only this particular mission ISRO is concerned and we have, both men and women are working together, and we have even officially also executive, women members are working on Chandrayaan.

Pallava Bagla: And what was the biggest challenge you had? If you can list one or two challenges, in putting this small aircraft which will go four lakh kilometers to the moon
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah if you look back, I have few challenges definitely with that, because our beginning was very very modest, trying to carry four or five of our own Indian instruments, putting our satellite, and going our PSLV mission. But the constraints remaining the same. Our launch vehicle to be PSLV only, we have used our own Chandrayaan mission but we have grown up more. As I told, the number of instruments have increased more, and it is because of the complexity of the system has increased more, still we have the schedule is on, the given schedule, given budget, with our own team so making everything, encapsulating, in spite of the fact, number of instruments increased more, complications increased more, we are able to put our thing in a compact and we are able to realize in time, within the budget, given budget is definitely a challenging task.

Pallava Bagla: So there have been no cost or time overruns. Is that what you are saying?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Absolutely correct. Anybody looks at my budget, project report, we talked about T- zero plus T-zero plus five is the time we have given here. That means originally the project report envisaged five year project. Actually project work my team started somewhere March-April 2004. And look at here, we are 4 and a half years and we have completed. So definitely six months into the overall budget schedule we have done and overall budget is concerned, I think still we have within the budget and even we can manage even the two year mission also within the budget is concerned.

Pallava Bagla: So what is the magic of all this? How can you manage within budget and without time? That is not Indian, everything runs late here
Mylswamy Annadurai: ISRO is magic. ISRO's brand is magic. ISRO's thing is making the magic here. So ISRO is a family, ISRO is an engineering team, ISRO is a scientific team, the team spirit in which we work and we are able to put long hours and as I think President Kalam said we are second to none as far as working technically and scientifically is concerned. Barring before the sixth pay commission, we are second to everyone as far as pay is concerned. But still we produce good number of outcomes. So every money aspect is concerned, whatever each rupee has been put, spent very neatly, and each hour has been spent with good accountability. So budget and as far as schedule within ISRO is concerned, nominally we follow the same discipline and it is followed in this mission also.

Pallava Bagla: One unique thing about this Chandrayaan I, is that you are also landing an instrument on the moon. How will that happen?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, if I look back, I think original project report was not envisaged having Impact Probe like this. But when we made the project report, and even the first level of drawing board is over, in Udaipur Dr Kalam, after listening to our overall system he told, 'anyhow you are going all the way to the moon. Why you are leaving the moon? You should make sure that you are making impression on the moon at the first attempt.' So that made us to think back and the whole team worked back without sacrificing what we already committed, we could conceive the probe which not more than 30 kg of cost which can go on moon carrying our tri colour flag and carrying some more scientific instruments also, three more instruments also it is carrying. So we have had a useful mission with hints whatever was given by Dr Kalam. So he made it possible.

Pallava Bagla: So you have put the Indian flag on that instrument?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah we have put Indian tri colour flag on that instrument making sure that Indian tri colour goes to the moon in the first attempt itself.

Pallava Bagla: So how many days after the satellite reaches the moon can one hope to have the Indian tri colour reaching the moon surface?
Mylswamy Annadurai: We are attempting to make this to happen after reaching our moon orbit is concerned, after coming 100 km of polar orbit, within a week we are trying to release our Moon Impact Probe, which half an hour from that time we go and land on the moon with our tri colour flag.

Pallava Bagla: So that I am told will make India the fourth country to have done that - after USA, Russia, Japan, possibly Japan, because Hiten we don't know whether it landed, and ESA is anyway an agency. India would be the fourth country to do that?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah I think that may be the correct thing to happen because by that time even the Chinese could not have mission to complete. And we would have in our flag, national flag, putting it there would be the fourth country.

Pallava Bagla: So we become part of what can be called the new P-5. The new P-5. The earlier P5 is people who did nuclear explosions. New P-5 is where you have countries who can put flags on the moon?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Oh we never intended like this but our mission, our intentions are slightly different, but basically we are trying to show we are capable of putting it there, even assigned the job, yes we are doing neatly. So I am not thinking beyond that. As far as job is concerned, we have done a neat job, putting the flag, its concern is one of the our icons to show, yes we can do something like that.

Pallava Bagla: So do you think Chandrayaan is going to 'ignite the minds' of young people?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yes Chandrayaan, like Kalam's 'Igniting Minds', this book, like this Chandrayaan also, I know that while going to schools and colleges, people, the way which they look at, awareness which Chandrayaan has created, looks it has done its job, it is going to do the job much more

Pallava Bagla: You have one child. Is he wanting to take anything in science and technology? What is he doing?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah he is now, entered his second year engineering, but he wanted to do against his mother's wish. Like any other mother they want to make IT engineer. But against mother's wish he has gone, he is doing core engineering. He is doing mechanical engineering. He wants to do, basically he wants to do something in automobile industry. So he is also, he will be a core engineer, he also makes something to move, he wants to do engineer something. Unlike career of regular normal students he also looks for something new. So he has taken up core engineering, he is continuing that way.

Pallava Bagla: So what are the other future planetary missions? ISRO chose you as a young person to head this project. What are the other future missions?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah future mission is concerned, already this has been named Chandrayaan-1, so we knew, that means Chandrayaan II will also be there. Luckily I got to do with my own team, so I felt Chandrayaan I will be finished by Chandrayaan II. We started working Chandrayaan I with Chandrayaan II configuration. And it so happened one fine day chairman ISRO asked me, 'Can you come out with a cost effective project report for Chandrayaan II?'. Our team made within two weeks.

Pallava Bagla: Two weeks?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Two weeks we had done project report, submitted and having approval with our team. Already we have budget approval even before Chandrayaan I is flagged off. So even Chandrayaan II is already on the anvil.

Pallava Bagla: And are there more after that?
Mylswamy Annadurai: After Chandrayaan II, possibly more. It all depends on how Chandrayaan-1 does and what Chandrayaan-2 provides. So we go one step at a time. So if Chandrayaan-2 we are able to get something that moon is new, moon can be exploited more, moon can be exploited more, possibly

Pallava Bagla: So you are excited?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Absolutely.

Pallava Bagla: Filled with energy?
Mylswamy Annadurai: Yeah, yeah..

Pallava Bagla: You don't look like having all the energy. All the energy is exhausted in making Chandrayaan?
Mylswamy Annadurai:No, no we have definitely we can make much more, at the end of the day, but it is our long days, already our day starts very early and goes late into the night. And that continues. That trend continues. And again it has been for the last four, four and a half years. That is there. But not withstanding we have a lot of energy. And that will be there for subsequent missions. There will be no doubt.

Pallava Bagla: So there you have it. Mr. Annadurai, the project director for Chandrayaan-1 telling us he has had long days and long nights in bringing Chandrayaan to a stage where it is ready to fly. And he also hopes to have Chandrayaan-2 for which there is already clearance and Chandrayaan-3 and 4 and 5 and God knows how many more.