Isro chief one of 10 people who mattered in science this yr

Two Indians, including Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Radhakrishnan, figure among the top ten people who mattered in science in 2014, according to a compilation by international journal Nature.

Two Indians, including Indian Space Research Organisation chief K Radhakrishnan, figure among the top ten people who mattered in science in 2014, according to a compilation by international journal Nature.

As head of Isro, Koppillil Radhakrishnan knew the odds were against him when India’s Mangalyaan space probe closed in on Mars this year. “In his 43 years as an engineer and manager at Isro, Radhakrishnan has led a diverse set of projects, from developing remote-sensing satellites to setting up India’s tsunami-warning system. The Mars mission was a gamble, but it caused less heartache than Isro’s work on a cryogenic rocket engine that failed during a launch in 2010 and finally succeeded this year,” writes Nature.

Also on the list is Radhika Nagpal, who developed swarms of insect-like robots.