BENGALURU: Former Isro scientist, Srinivas Hegde, 71, who was the mission director of India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1 that discovered water molecules on Moon, passed away at a private hospital here on Friday. He is survived by his wife and two sons.
Hegde had a long career with Isro — from 1978 to 2014 — and was involved in tens of space missions as part of UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) or erstwhile Isro Satellite Centre (Isac).
According to those close to the family, Hegde had been under treatment for a kidney-related ailment. He suffered a heart attack late on Thursday and was taken to a private hospital in Jayanagar, where he breathed his last around noon Friday.
Former Isro scientists and URSC director, M Annadurai, who was Chandrayaan-1’s project director, told TOI: “He was my first immediate boss when I joined Isro in 1982. He was a great colleague to work with and was an important part of Chandrayaan-1 and many more missions we carried out.”
During his 36-year stint at Isro, Hegde was involved in planning, analysis, and operations of many projects from the “mission” side that involved design, analysis and planning.