Udupi Ramachandra Rao, who is widely remembered as India’s Satellite Man, was celebrated by Google on his 89th birthday. Professor Rao, who passed away in 2017, was a noted space scientist and chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Google Doodle’s website gave a brief description, “Born in a remote village of Karnataka on this day in 1932, Prof Rao began his career as a cosmic-ray physicist and protege of Dr Vikram Sarabhai. After completing his doctorate, Prof Rao brought his talents to the US, where he worked as a professor and conducted experiments on NASA’s Pioneer and Explorer space probes.”

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Professor Rao came back to India in 1966 and started an extensive high-energy astronomy program at the Physical Research Lab, India’s leading institution of space before making a move for his country’s satellite program in 1972.

Professor Rao supervised the 1975 Aryabhatta launch, India’s first satellite- one of the 20 satellites he developed which transformed the rural India by improving communications and meteorological services to a different level.

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The satellite scientist also developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has launched over 250 satellites. He was the first Indian to get inducted to the Satellite Hall of Fame in 2013. In the same year, India launched its first interplanetary mission Mangalyaan through PSLV, a satellite which orbits Mars.