Somanath releases coffee-table book on ISRO brought out by The Hindu

(From left) Sridhar Aranala, vice-president, Sales and Distribution, The Hindu; S. Somanath, ISRO chief; Suresh Nambath, Editor, The Hindu; and T.S. Subramanian, curator of ISRO: Exploring New Frontiers – To The Moon, The Sun & Beyond, at the launch event.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, S. Somanath, on Thursday (September 5, 2024) released a coffee-table book brought out by The Hindu Group of Publications, ISRO: Exploring New Frontiers – To The Moon, The Sun & Beyond.

The book curated by T.S. Subramanian, former Associate Editor, Frontline, documents the achievements of India as a space-faring nation in detail, from its nascent days in the 1960s to recent programmes like the Mars Orbiter Mission, Chandrayaan-1, 2 and 3 and the Aditya L-1 missions.

The book documents these missions with insightful behind-the-scenes stories, interviews and spectacular photographs of India’s space journey.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Somanath lauded The Hindu for bringing out the book, which he said was a good historical collection of information related to the ISRO and India’s space programme.

“Many things come back to mind when such a book is being released. Of course, the book has come from the background of Chandrayaan-3. But Chandrayaan-3 is just an event that happened in the history of ISRO and this book is a good historical collection of information about ISRO,” Mr. Somanath said. He also congratulated the publication for bringing out books on art, culture, literature and heritage.

“This is an important work and you have commissioned people who have certain credibility in their domain to bring out this book,” he said.

Suresh Nambath, Editor, The Hindu, said that this book takes a historical view not only by drawing from the newspaper’s archives but also from ISRO’s resources and extensive interviews with its scientists.

“The Hindu is known as a newspaper of record and it is only natural that a record-setting organisation such as ISRO features prominently in our pages. From its very beginnings to the spectacular achievements, The Hindu has tracked the journey of ISRO from the earth to the sky and to the moon,” Mr. Nambath said.

He added that this book was made possible by senior journalist Mr. Subramanian who has set a record of his own by covering over 50 launches and that his expertise and enterprise come through every page.

“The book has been in the making since the success of Chandrayaan-3 and it is up to date with all subsequent efforts at ISRO,” he added.

Sridhar Aranala, vice-president, Sales and Distribution, The Hindu said, “We got into the business of making special publications in 2017 and it has been a good journey. We have almost published about 165 titles and today it is a proud moment that we have been able to do something with ISRO.”

K. Kirubanidhi, former Senior Deputy Editor, The Hindu and R. Krithika, Senior Deputy Editor, The Hindu have edited the book.