Message from Chief Guest
Dr. Nagendra Rao has joined Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) satellite center in 1981, and is currently serving as an Outstanding Scientist and designated as Director of the Laboratory of Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS), an autonomous unit of ISRO located in Peenya, Bangalore. He is also a selected member of distinguished ISRO Strategy Group (ISG) that focuses on the future of ISRO organization strategy.
Dr. Nagendra Rao's main contribution is the development of high accuracy star trackers for the determination of orientation (attitude) of the spacecraft in space. In the year 2009, he has received an ISRO team excellence award for leading a team that developed high accuracy indigenous star tracker, which is being flown in all ISRO's remote sensing, weather and scientific spacecraft.
He has contributed for the development of a high accuracy Fiber optic Gyroscope for the recent GSAT-14 spacecraft flown successfully by indigenous GSLV-D5 rocket. He guided the development and production of Indigenous miniature star tracker that has navigated the MARS Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft to its destination successfully.
He contributed for the development of Lyman- Alpha Photometer payload flown in MOM that studies the loss of water from MARS atmosphere. Dr. NagendraRao's professional interests include the fields of computer hardware and software, electronics and instrumentation. He is a life member of Astronautical Society of India as well as American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, USA.
