Nilesh Kumar: The journey of an ISRO scientist from DAV Kapildev to Chandrayaan 2

Never stop dreaming. Chase your dreams and keep trying without losing hope. But most importantly never run behind shortcuts. These are the words of the man who proved to be a gem for our country and especially for the state of Jharkhand. Nilesh Kumar, a resident of Ranchi worked in the successful development of Chandrayaan-2 that was launched recently on 22nd July.

Nilesh, basically hailing from Ranchi has completed his studies from there itself. He did his 12th from D.A.V Kapil Dev School. In the year 2006, he went on to pursue his B.tech in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Jamshedpur. As soon as his studies were over, he was offered a decent job in Hindalco. He worked there for less duration as he wasn’t satisfied with the job. Soon after he left the job and continued his studies.

From there he focused hard on cracking the ISRO entrance exam. During his preparation, he was guided well by his elder brother, Lokesh Kumar who runs coaching for the engineering aspirants. Lokesh gave him tips on Maths and Physics in between the preparation. Finally, his interest in Maths and Physics led him towards ISRO. Securing an All India Rank 12, Nilesh cracked ISRO’s entrance successfully with flying colors in the year 2018.

During the creation of India’s second lunar exploration mission, Chandrayaan-2, Nilesh was a part of the Research and Development team. Working together with the production team of Chandrayaan-2 (GSLV Mark-III), he prepared two S-200 booster for the successful launch of the rockets. Nilesh said that it was quite difficult to make these two boosters as it had to be kept lightweight and so it took a span of 4 months.

It’s true that hard work pays off and it actually did in the case of Nilesh. His father, Mahesh Prasad, a retired senior accounts officer and mother, Nirmala Devi proved to be the constant support in his life. About his successful creation, he said that earlier boosters like S-200 took a long time to get created. Only four times a year was the package of these boosters prepared. But after the Chandrayaan-2 mission, the team is working efficiently on the project. The successful result of the work will come out in the form of eight pairs of boosters being prepared every year. The challenge accepted by Nilesh and the experience gained marked beneficial for the nation.

Talking about his work, he explained that as these boosters are heavy in weight, so with the coordination and help of the production team, S-200 was created in three parts. The first part, Head and Segment, the second Middle Segment and the third Nozzle and Segment was prepared separately. All these three parts were collectively assembled together and formed to be a single S-200 booster. Such two boosters were the pivotal part of the mission.

Nilesh Kumar working as a propellant scientist is a magnificent example of extreme dedication and hard work. He effortlessly worked towards achieving his dream and as a result, got success with the achievement that is touching the sky. It was his urge to learn and proper teamwork that led him towards this achievement. Not only did he made the people of Ranchi feel proud, but also helped in making the nation feel worthy in terms of power. Nilesh has set a benchmark for all the aspiring scientist as well as science lovers and is also a paradigm for the small-town people.