New Delhi: ISRO scientist N Valarmathi, who lent her voice on countdowns for rocket launches in Sriharikota, died in Chennai Private Hospital on Sunday, due to cardiac arrest at 64.
Valarmathi was a part of the range operations programme office at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre where she used to announce the countdown on all launches, Isro PRO said.
During the July 14 event, Valarmathi was heard giving the countdown for the rocket launch and had been the voice for ISRO launches for almost six years. However, her last announcement, per WION, was on July 30 when the PSLV-C56 rocket lifted off carrying 7 Singaporean satellites, as part of a dedicated commercial mission.
Dr PV Venkitakrishnan, a former director at ISRO, expressed his condolences for her untimely demise on X (formerly Twitter) and noted that Chandrayaan-3 marked her last countdown announcement.
“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!” Dr. Venkitakrishnan shared on X.
Her death was condoled by Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrashekhar, who wrote, “Saddened to hear about the passing of N Valarmathi ji, the voice behind many @isro launch countdowns, including Chandrayaan 3. My condolences to her family and friends. Om Shanti.”