Almost a year after completing his tenure as Isro chairman, G Madhavan Nair, the man who put India on the Moon map with Chandrayaan, continues to keep busy.

As president of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), he travels globally creating awareness among people about space science and research. The former Isro chairman is now the chosen one for spearheading India’s ambitious plan to build civilian aircraft indigenously. The Dr Vikram Sarabhai distinguished professor still goes to office at Isro in Bangalore (a tradition at the agency that allows former chairmen to work and research), combines duties as chairman of board of the upcoming IIT in Patna even as he visits schools and colleges extolling the virtues of a career in space to students.

“Life has definitely cha­nged. I am not directly involved with Isro, though I participate in technical reviews. As IAA president, have a major role in leading the academy’s activities while I spend 20-30 per cent of my time at NAL (National Aerospace Laboratories) overseeing NCAD,” says Nair. He adds that the only thing that has changed is that he gets more time.

IAA, incidently, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a bash plan­ned on November 17 in Washington DC. The academy has identified four focus areas for research and identified teams from member countries to work on it. They include robotic exploration, human space flight, climate and disaster management.

Slowly, people are looking at the benefits of space research, Nair said and added that African countries and Brazil are investing in resea­rch and collaborative partnerships with other nations.

His new passion is heading a high powered committee on National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD), constituted in May to manage the development of the project, as the chairman. “So far there has been no serious effort on development of air transport. We are looking at the market to arrive at a configuration of an indigenous civilian aircraft. There is lot of potential,” he said.

NCAD’s committee has experts drawn from government, industry, financial institutions and regulatory authority including NAL, HAL, ADA, DRDO and Isro and will oversee feasibility studies, structuring of JV and evolving an organisational structure for a new entity.

India’s ambitious civil aviation programme plans to build planes for carrying 70-100 passengers on short haul flights, according to Nair. “With the economy growing so fast, the capacity to travel by air will increase, especially to smaller cities,” he added. The committee has a budget of Rs 50 crore for the feasibility study due to be submitted by middle of next year, while there is no estimate for the actual project yet. “I expect to see the aircraft to start flying in next three-four years and expect 300-500 of them to be manufactured in 10 years time,” the chairman said.

As for his role as career counselor, Nair is having fun. “I spend lot of time interacting with students. Chandrayaan has been an eye opener and enthusiasm for a space career has gone up. The remuneration has also increased,” he said. The ‘moonman’ makes sure he visits them at least once a month.