Valarmathi, Voice Of ISRO Launches, Dies. Chandrayaan Her Last Countdown

Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist Valarmathi, the iconic voice of rocket launch countdowns, died on Saturday, nearly two months after her last assignment - the Chandrayaan-3 moon mission launch.

Valarmathi, 64, suffered a heart attack and died in Chennai on Saturday evening, according to reports. 

Former ISRO Director PV Venkitakrishnan took to X, formerly Twitter, to condole her death and wrote, ''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!''

See the tweet here:

Ms Valarmathi, who was from Tamil Nadu's Ariyalur, was born on July 31, 1959. She went to the Nirmala Girls Higher Secondary School before graduating in engineering from the Government College of Technology in Coimbatore.

Tribute messages poured in on social media for Ms Valarmathi.

One user wrote, ''I am so sorry to hear about the passing of Valarmathi Madam. She was a true inspiration to many, and her voice will be missed during every launch. Om Shanti.''

Another commented, ''I noticed her absence during the #AdityaL1 launch. I thought she might be out of the office or something. But I didn't expect this sad news. I'll really miss her. Om Shanti.''

A third said, ''Very, very sad to hear this. We worked closely with her for our Vikram-S launch last year, for which she was the voice for the launch countdown.''

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar also posted about her death and 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.''