According to reports, the Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist died of a heart attack in Chennai.

A former ISRO Director Dr P V Venkitakrishnan took to X to condole her demise and wrote, ”The voice of Valarmathi Madam will not be there for the countdowns of future missions of ISRO from Sriharikotta. Chandrayan 3 was her final countdown announcement. An unexpected demise. Feel so sad. Pranams!”

A native of Tamil Nadu’s Ariyalur, she was born on July 31, 1959 and went to the Nirmala Girls Higher Secondary School before graduating in engineering from the Government College of Technology in Coimbatore. The scientist joined ISRO in 1984 and played a pivotal role in numerous missions. She was the project director of RISAT-1, India’s first indigenously developed Radar Imaging Satellite (RIS) and the country’s second such satellite.

In 2015, she became the first person to receive the Abdul Kalam Award, instituted by the Government of Tamil Nadu in honour of the former president Abdul Kalam in 2015.

Among those who made major contributions towards the success of Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission is Debasish Mohapartra from Berhampur.

Ever since he joined ISRO in 2006, Debasish has been working with dedication for different projects, said his family members, while celebrating the rare feat achieved on Wednesday.

“Debasish worked wholeheartedly for the project. He was handling an important component of Chandrayaan-3.,” said his father, adding that his son had joined ISRO as a Scientist C and has moved to the level of Scientist F now.

Working at the firing section of the PSLV, Debasish has been research-minded since his childhood. Among his friends, he was securing the highest marks in science. After completing his BTech from Sarang Engineering College and MTech from Jadavpur University, he successfully cracked GATE and joined ISRO in 2006, he said.

Similarly, Sarat Kumar Das of Talcher was looking after the crucial electronics component of the mission. He said the moment of Vikram lander’s landing on the moon would remain a special moment in his life.

After MSc in physics (electronics) from NIT, Rourkela, he did PhD from Northeastern University and then joined ISRO. He is working as the group director of the component quality assessment group. The electronic components used in Chandrayan-3 were used only after their certification.

Similar is the tale of Atal Krushna Khatua of Keonjhar who has been working with the ISRO for more than 10 years. He was stated to have been entrusted with the task of producing and supplying liquid engine in cryogenic stage.

The scientist worked towards ensuring the safety of the spacecraft amid varying temperatures with the thermal protection system.

Atal, who hails from Magurugadia of Keonjhar, did B Tech from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology and joined ISRO as a scientist in 2012.

Likewise, Nagaraju Kakinada of Berhampur was also a part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. A scientist at the ISRO, he has been working with the agency for the last six years.

Nagaraju Kakinada completed B. Tech from the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla and did M. Tech in Telecommunications Engineering from IIT Delhi