The Story Behind The Name – Mylswamy Annadurai

Dr. Mylswamy Annadurai, the former director of ISRO, who received The Weekend Leader Lifetime Achievement Award at a recent function in Chennai, disclosed that his father was a follower of social reformer Periyar, and he had named him 'Annadurai' after one of Periyar's close associates and the founder of DMK, C N Annadurai.

Annadurai said that later he had prefixed his father's name, Mylswami and he became known as Mylswami Annadurai.

A recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2016, Dr. Annadurai had served in ISRO for 36 years and contributed to the development of more than 60 satellites.

During his tenure as Director of ISRO, the organisation stunned the world with a remarkable achievement. It launched 104 satellites, including 96 from the US, in a single mission from its Sriharikota spaceport.

At ISRO, he masterminded the successful, budget-friendly missions to the moon with Chandrayaan I in 2008 and to Mars with Mangalyaan in 2013.

Interestingly, Mangalyaan was launched with a modest budget of Rs 450 crore, and it was nearly ten times less costly than NASA's Maven mission to Mars, though both missions were initiated around the same timeframe. - TWL Bureau