In this massive story, here are your 5 Facts:
1. Dr. S. Somnath was named Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of the Space Commission by the Centre on Wednesday. According to a Personnel Ministry directive, his appointment is for a combined duration of three years from the date of joining the job, including an extension in tenure beyond the age of superannuation in the public interest.
2. Mr. Somanath has specialized in launch vehicle systems engineering, structural design, structural dynamics, integration designs and procedures, mechanism design, and pyrotechnics.
3. He is the Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. During the early stages of his career, he was a team leader for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) Integration.
4. Mr. Somanath, who was born in July 1963, received a Gold Medal for his meritorious performance after graduating with a second-place finish in Mechanical Engineering from Kerala University. He then went on to complete his Post Graduation in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
5. He has received the Astronautical Society of India’s (ASI) Space Gold Medal, as well as ISRO’s Performance Excellence Award-2014 and Team Excellence Award-2014 for the GSLV Mk-III realization.
