KENDRAPARA: While India continues to bask in glory after the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the moon on August 23, Odisha has one more reason to cheer as an Odia man of Kendrapara also contributed to the mission.
Thirty-eight-year-old Sushil Kumar Nayak of Balia village under Chandannagar gram panchayat was one among the many scientists whose contributions added up to make this remarkable lunar mission a success.
Sushil has been working as a scientist at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota of Andhra Pradesh since 2009 and was involved in programming and launching the Chandrayaan-3 mission. At present, he is working as the deputy head of the Gaganyaan project of ISRO.
After completing HSC from Paradip Port Trust High School in 2000, Sushil joined Plus II in science at Basic Science College of OUAT. Later after earning his BTech in Mechanical Engineering from Indira Gandhi National Institute at Sarang, Sushil joined Satyam Computers but resigned soon after. However, in 2009, he successfully passed an examination and joined ISRO.
“I have been a part of the Chandrayaan-3 project since 2018. The moment Chandrayaan-3 made a soft landing on the moon, tears of joy welled up in our eyes and we hugged each other,” said an elated Sushil while speaking to The New Indian Express.
His father Muralidhar said the family is proud that their son played a pivotal role in the lunar mission’s success. Sushil’s wife Monalisa is an Ayurvedic doctor at a hospital under ISRO. The couple has a son and a daughter.