14 July 2023, 2:35 pm will remain a historical moment in Indian history. This was the moment when the ISRO successfully launched the Chandrayaan 3, the third rocket of the Indian space program's lunar exploration series. As the rocket made its way, booming through earth’s atmosphere, millions of Indians felt immense pride. But the moment was doubly special for the country’s women since the historic mission was led by a woman, Dr Ritu Karidhal Srivastava. With the launch of Chandrayaan 3, India has marked its journey to be the first nation to land on the moon's south pole while also showcasing to the world the true potential of women.
Women behind ISRO's Chandrayaan-3
Dr Ritu Karidhal Srivastava popularly known as Rocket Woman of India is leading the historic Misson. She is one of the senior scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). She is an important gem of the Mars Orbiter Mission, as stated by the Women’s Economic Forum (WEF).
Dr. Ritu completed her MTech from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and her MSc in Physics from Lucknow University in 1996, respectively. She was a bright student during her academic years. She had a keen interest in Space exploration from an early age. She used to collect news articles about any Space activities by ISRO or the American Space Agency NASA from her early years.
After completing her education, Dr Ritu joined ISRO in November 1997. She has since contributed to numerous esteemed ISRO missions and has held the important position of operations director for numerous missions. She has released more than 20 papers written by her in both international and domestic journals. She has been also honored by the 'ISRO Young Scientist Award' by former President APJ Abdul Kalam. Some other awards received by Dr. Ritu are, 'Women Achievers in Aerospace 2017' by the SIATI, 'ISRO Team Award for MOM in 2015', and 'ASI Team Award'.
A Team of Women on the Mission
Apart from Dr. Ritu Karidhal, several other females have made significant contributions to Chandrayaan-3. Nearly 54 female engineers and scientists have been working on the Misson Chandrayaan-3. They worked as project managers, deputy project directors, and associate project directors in various sectors. P. Madhuri an employee at the Sriharikota Rocket port was been commenting during the launch of the Rocket.
A Look at India’s Lunar Mission
Chandrayaan-1, launched in October 2008, was India's first lunar mission. It was a successful mission that orbited around the moon and carried out various scientific experiments and also detected the presence of water molecules.
Chandrayaan-2 was launched in July 2019 which intended to expand the exploration on the moon but failed to do so. The mission was only partially successful because the lander Vikram deviated from its trajectory during the landing attempt and the scientists lost communication over it.
After four long years of disappointment and rigorous work, the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO's Chandrayaan 3 Mission has been accomplished and successfully launched today at 2:35 p.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. ISRO's GSLV Mark 3 LVM-3, a heavy lift rocket has carried out the Misson.
The main aim of the Chandrayaan-3 mission is to achieve a soft landing on the moon which is slated to take place at 5.47 pm on August 23, after a 42-day journey.
