Inspiration from Space, the final 'frontier' - A call to Software industry

To explore and to innovate has to be a constant pursuit for people in industries like ours. The inspiration to stay on that course could come from many different sources. It could be from within, from peers in the industry, and also from peers in other industries - for some of whom innovation and exploration embody their life, not just their lifestyle. Space exploration is one such field and it has always been an abundant source of awe and inspiration for all of us.

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Agreed, that the wonder of Space has been mighty inescapable to man ever since the dawn of civilization, but one still wonders as to what inspires Space explorers to indulge in such derring-do, and their scientists to be lost in all the brain bending and painstaking research behind the scenes. A couple of years ago, at an IBM conference, the keynote speaker, Burt Rutan, offered an unexpected and a rather uplifting answer to that question. Rutan, by the way, is the American aerospace engineer famous for his Voyager mission and is the designer of SpaceshipOne which was the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of Space (in 2004). In his keynote address at that event, he said: "Personally for me, it is the Software industry that inspires me to do what I do. You guys are always innovating and creating technologies like the Internet, Web and creating wonderful solutions on top them. (Well, the iPhone was yet to come, then)". It was very kind of Burt to say that of our industry, even if gratuitously so, but his words sure made me feel proud about the game-changing work we do in the Software industry and made me realize that one can always inspire one's own 'heroes' in turn with sincerity of purpose and dedication to one's craft.

But, right now, it is our turn to raise a toast to the those engaged in Space exploration, to people like Burt, and to the team of scientists and engineers at Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for the successful launch of Chandrayaan (Sanskrit for Moon Craft) last month, and for once again inspiring us with their demonstration of success, which has been achieved under so many constraints of time and budget. The mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency. During its two year 'assignment' Chandrayaan aims to perform a thorough mineralogical analysis of the moon (including exploration of rare isotopes like Helium-3 and radio-active high atomic number elements such as Radon, Uranium, and Thorium that could be used in power generation through nuclear fusion and fission), and to create a 3D atlas of the entire moon surface. On Nov 4th the mission accomplished a significant milestone in its journey when it left earth’s gravity to enter the lunar transfer orbit with an apogee of 236,000 miles (380,000 Kms) after its on-board engine fired for two and a half minutes. The spacecraft crossed this mark on Nov 8th, and reached the vicinity of the moon at 238,600 miles (384,000 Kms). On Nov 9th, Chandrayaan-1 entered its initial lunar orbit. In this elliptical orbit, it takes about ten and a half hours for the spacecraft to circle the moon once. The spacecraft will be moved into its final lunar orbit on November 15th. How cool is all of that! Let us pause and let the inspiration sink in, urging and motivating us to become better software designers and project managers.

Talking about Space missions and project management, have you seen the movie 'Apollo 13'? Do you remember the role of Flight Director, Gene Kranz, which was so effectively played by actor Ed Harris? Do you recall how undauntedly he looks disaster squarely in the face and energizes his team with his rallying call of 'Failure is not an option'? Don't you agree that it was his tenacity as the project manager for Mission Control that made all the difference in bringing astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert safely back home?