Without batting an eyelid, Vishwanathan Krishnamurthy pressed a button last week and the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) went into “self-destruct” mode. It is a button no one in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has pressed before.

“It was a difficult decision, taken when the vehicle was at a point of no return,” says the 57-year-old scientist, 33 years spent with ISRO. “Mission safety is foremost.”

Krishnamurthy, who trained at IIT, Chennai, is the Range Safety Officer (RSO) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. He and his team of three sit in an independent room—there’s no way of being influenced by other departments. At the Sriharikota centre, the main control room is on the first floor, while Krishnamurthy and his team are in a ground floor room.

Once a rocket takes off, its on-board computer takes over completely. The only command that can be executed from the ground is self-destruct.

It’s a job Krishnamurthy has been at for the last seven years. And he has sweeping powers: he needn’t check with anyone before ordering self-destruct.

According to strictly laid down rules and well-rehearsed procedures, any rocket that deviates more than four degrees from its path has to be destroyed.

Once the self-destruct button is pressed, a series of high-energy explosives fitted in the vehicle are detonated, blowing it up into pieces small enough not to cause damage to life or property on earth.

Last Monday, GSLV deviated about 10 degrees, according to ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair. Forty seconds into its flight, Krishnamurthy pressed the button that brought to an end the Rs 270 crore project. The vehicle was some 15 km above earth when it broke up.

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