Unfavorable wind direction delayed Pokhran test in 1998: DRDO scientist
Pokhran nuclear test was delayed by over six hours on May 11, 1998, due to unfavorable wind direction. The decision was taken considering the winds might carry the radiation to inhabited lands or Pakistan, which is against the protocols of international conventions. "The original plan was to detonate all the three devices at 9 am," said Manjit Singh, a senior DRDO scientist. Here's more.
Singh recalls team didn't want to wait in control room
Singh, who was also the part of the team that conducted the tests, said the team didn't want to wait in the control room of the tests anticipating that it would collapse due to the tremors caused by the explosion.
Singh joined DRDO in 1984 as junior scientist
After the Pokhran tests, India had declared it had crossed the nuclear threshold. Singh joined the DRDO's Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) as a junior scientist in December 1984. He was given an award in 1998 by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Manjit Singh took charge as Director of Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) on July 29, 2011.
