A coffee table book, ISRO: Exploring New Frontiers - To The Moon, The Sun & Beyond, published by The Hindu Group of Publications was launched on Thursday by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somanath.
The book curated by TS 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 the recent missions like the Mars Orbiter Mission, Chandrayaan 1, 2 and 3 and the Aditya L1 missions.
The book documents these missions’ insightful behind the scene stories, interviews and spectacular photographs of India’s space journey.
Speaking on the occasion, Somanath lauded The Hindu for bringing out this book which he said is a good historical collection of information related to ISRO and India’s space programme.
“Many things come back to mind when such a book is being released today. 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,” 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.
Natural connection
“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,” Nambath said
He added that this book was made possible by senior journalist 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.