NEW DELHI: Former Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chairman K Kasturirangan says the space agency has a proper mechanism to deal with cyber security threats. The veteran scientist, who led the space agency for nine years, gave the statement when asked about a report that alerts were sent to Isro about threats from North Korean hackers just before the Vikram lander's scheduled moon landing date on September 7 this year.

Giving an interview to TOI on the sidelines of 12th convocation ceremony at Teri School of Advanced Studies here, Kasturirangan said, "Though I am not aware of any specific alert provided to the space agency, what I can say is Isro has a process to deal with such (hacking) alerts. There are experts and engineers in Isro who look at it. I am sure they have gone through the process. Nothing is taken lightly by Isro. Isro is extremely serious to deal with every input it gets directly or indirectly. As engineers know their systems well, they will make sure it (cyber security issue) is truly understood. This is the Isro culture."

Talking about Chandrayaan-2 mission, Kasturirangan, an honorary adviser to Isro, said, "Isro has gone into all possibilities of failures and anomalies. It is an opportunity to learn things which otherwise we would not have known. We should be able to correct and improve things. When Isro makes the announcement about Chandrayaan-3, it knows things it needs to address so that even more ambitious missions can be achieved in future."

Whether there is a chance of the revival of Vikram lander lying on Moon's surface, he said, "There is no declared direction in which Isro has confident that Vikram lander will come back, but Isro will continue to explore ways so that it can be revived. Luck would have it if certain things can happen."

The scientist said the "Gaganyaan is a very complex mission". "It includes multiple dimensions of technologies like engineering, science and users. We are learning in the process and preparing for it. Government has given us a deadline to launch the mission by 75th year of independence and we are trying our best. It is a good challenge," he said.

When asked why Nasa satellite images are preferred for spotting farm fires cases in Delhi's neighbourhood when Isro too has several specific satellites, Kasturirangan, who is also the chairman of committee on national education policy, told TOI, "Isro has acquired images of stubble burning, quantified it and provided information on time variation of the stubble burning process. A mechanism is being instituted to provide this kind of data to concerned authorities."

On the role of satellites in better prediction of severe cyclones, he said, "With advanced geo satellites, we can now predict cyclone landfall accuracy up to 50-60km. Such accurate information helps in evacuation much in advance. Isro's (Ahmedabad-based) Space Applications Centre provides such data and creates accurate cyclone models along with IMD, and provides advance warning to state and local authorities through MHA.

Satellites can now catch formative stages of cyclones even when they are several 100km away. They can monitor the movement of cyclones as sensors have large visibility zone up to the size of a continent. The satellites can now take cyclone pictures in the interval of 15 minutes. With optimal images and thermal images, we can even see the eye of a cyclone. With basic parameters of cyclone formation and atmospheric parameters like temperature, wind velocity and pressure, we can now create a model and predict the track that a cyclone takes."

Talking about the monitoring of glaciers, the Padma awardee who is also the chancellor of Central University of Rajasthan, said the "satellite system is monitoring 5,000 locations in the Himalayas for glacier melting. Fringes of glaciers can be monitored with fringe detection system -- analysis of whether there is an accumulation or recession of glaciers on a timely basis. Ground-based technological studies complement satellite data, which provides accurate data about glacier melting."

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