Srinivas Hegde
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Srinivas Hegde, who was the mission director of India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-1, passed away on Friday in Bengaluru.

Mr. Hegde, 71, passed away in a private hospital where he was undergoing treatment. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

Mr. Hegde, who was with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for more than three decades, was associated with several landmark missions undertaken by the space agency and notable among them was the Chandrayaan-1 launched in 2008. India’s maiden lunar mission had made the pathbreaking discovery of water molecules on the moon.

Upon retirement, he was associated with Bengaluru-based start-up Team Indus, which was one of the competitors for the $30million Google Lunar XPRIZE.