Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) N Valarmathi, who lent her voice to the space agency's launch countdowns, died at the age of 64. Her last and most recent work was with Chandrayaan-3 which etched golden history for India. With her death, ISRO's iconic voice has become a part of history. According to an ANI report, Valarmathi died of cardiac arrest in a Chennai hospital. A former ISRO Director Dr. P V Venkitakrishnan took to X, formerly Twitter, to express grief over her demise. He said 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!" he wrote.
"Valarmathi, an ISRO scientist, who lent her voice on countdowns for rocket launches in Sriharikota, died in Chennai Private Hospital yesterday, due to cardiac arrest. 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, " the news agency ANI reported citing ISRO PRO.
Notably, in 2015, she became the first person to receive the Abdul Kalam Award which was instituted by the Tamil Nadu government in honour of the former president.
People took to social media to console the death of Valarmathi. Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar said he was saddened to hear about her passing away.
"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🙏🏻, " he tweeted.