Everything you need to know about India’s Moon Man, Mylswamy Annadurai, on his birthday.

Mylswamy Annadurai is a renowned Indian scientist prominently known as the ‘Moon Man of India’. He has worked at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for 36 years. He turns 64 on July 2.

He supervised ‘Chandrayaan-1,’ India’s first lunar mission that advanced the country’s space programme. He was also the Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission) and Chandrayaan-2 programmes director.
Here is everything you need to know about the ‘Indian Moon Man.’
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Early Years

In the Tamil Nadu Coimbatore district’s Kodhawady village, close to Pollachi, Mylswamy Annadurai was born on July 2, 1958.
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Annadurai received his early schooling in his hometown village before moving on to earn an engineering bachelor’s degree at the Government College of Engineering in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Later in 1982, he graduated with a master’s degree from Coimbatore’s PSG College of Technology.

Years at ISRO
In 1982, Mylswamy Annadurai joined the ISRO. He managed the spacecraft operations for the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT)-2A and 2B satellite programmes as well as the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS)-1A and IRS-1B satellite missions. Later, he was appointed to the position of mission director for the INSAT-2C, INSAT-2D, 2E, 3B, and GSAT (Geosynchronous Satellite)-1 space programmes after serving as certain programmes’ deputy project director.

How he came to be known as India’s Moon Man

Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2, two Indian lunar probes, were directed by Annadurai in 2004.
On October 22, 2008, Sriharikota Island hosted the launch of Chandrayaan-1, India’s first lunar mission. The expedition was expected to last two years and had 11 scientific instruments from India and other nations. The mission was a success when the Moon Impact Probe, which was released on November 14 and made contact close to the lunar South Pole, struck on the moon on November 8 after the vehicle had entered lunar orbit. Later, Annadurai worked as the Chandrayaan-2 project director, leading to India’s second successful lunar mission, garnering him the nickname ‘Moon Man of India.’

Other work and projects

Although Annadurai oversaw a number of ISRO satellite projects, his position as the mission’s programme director for the Mars Orbiter Mission, better known as the Mangalyaan mission, garnered the greatest attention. Launched in November 2013, it arrived in orbit around Mars successfully in September 2014.

With the completion of this project, ISRO joined NASA, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the European Space Agency as the fourth space agency to launch a successful Mars mission.

In addition to working at ISRO, Annadurai also lectured to schoolchildren about science and published a popular science column for the Tamil publication Kungumam in an effort to inspire young Indians to pursue scientific careers.