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My Days With Dr. Kalam - Mission Success

Success is never a one-step goal. It takes years of hard work, sleepless nights, earlier mornings than everyone else, it means rising up with the sun even though you need to keep working long after the sun has set.

For those who believe in the glory of their goals though, the sun never sets.

Today’s post features Dr.Kalam and Liquid Propulsion technology. While his reservations about liquid Propulsion technology were first witnessed by me during his visit to DRDL in 1973 as a member of the team lead by Prof. Satish Dhawan to review the  SAM-2 (Devil) project, I faced the same when he first reviewed the configuration of Prithvi Missile in 1983 after taking over as Director DRDL and Programme Director, IGMDP. 

By this time, we had already static tested the Boiler Plate Version of Propulsion Stage of Prithvi.  Dr. Kalam felt that the LP System was too complex and less reliable, and suggested  that we switch over to Solid Propulsion. 

I had explained the benefits of LP System for the Prithvi Mission in terms of Variable total impulse to achieve variability of range (40 km to 150 km.).  While he was convinced about the credibility of the LP system, he suggested that the status of the system be reviewed by a national team of experts. 

This was the first time in the history of DRDO that an external expert Committee reviewed a design. 

Thus began the procedure of formal reviews as part of mission mode development projects in DRDO despite lot of opposition from all of us.  The Review Committee set up a target for demo of repeatable performance of the engine within the specification consecutively in five static tests. After demonstrating four successful tests, the fifth test schedule coincided with the visit of then Honourable Prime Minister Shri Rajeev Gandhi. 

Being a tech-savvy person himself and also a pilot,  he showed lot of interest in the test and stayed overtime to witness it.  As luck would have it, the engine underperformed and Shri Rajeev Gandhi left after making some consolatory remarks. This was disheartening for all of us at the very least. All the effort we put in felt pointless because the engine ended up disappointing us.

It was then that Dr Kalam encouraged the team with his smile and citation of such experiences during our SLV-III days.  He laughed it off and called the phenomenon the VIP effect, which in essence is that everything that can wrong, will go wrong in the presence of someone important. Dr. Kalam’s good -natured humor let us all breathe easier, he asked us to go ahead and treat the incident  as a blessing in disguise to identify the weakness in the system.

He refused to give up his preference to  use solid propulsion for Prithvi when the issues with reference to repeatability of performance of LP engine continued for some more time.

I remember Dr. Kalam telling me once,  “Friend you are now the Deputy Project Director and not the head of the Liquid Propulsion Division (LPD).  Your goal is Prithvi Mission not LP Technology alone. You need to make a choice of technology that would ensure success of your mission.” 


What a truly inspiring and important message for a budding Mission/Programme Director ! Focussing on the overall goal is sometimes much more important than focussing on a bit of the project or product; it if doesn’t work, try something else that works best, but keep going, always keep going. Because the sun will always rise, what’s stopping you ?

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