High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan is a space scientist based in Bangalore, Karnataka who headed the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for more than 9 years until 2003. He was a Member in the Upper House (Rajya Sabha,2003-2009) of the Indian Parliament. He is now a Member of the Planning Commission of Government of India. He is also the Director of the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, since April 2004. He is a recipient of the three civilian awards from the Government of India: the Padma Shri (1982), Padma Bhushan (1992) and Padma Vibhushan (2000).