With Eyes Glued On Chandrayaan-3 Landing, Meet The Woman Behind It All: Dr Ritu Karidhal Srivastava
As the time for Chadrayaan-3's much-anticipated landing on the Moon approaches, a lesser-known fact is that a woman is behind it all.?
A major part of the team behind India's ambitious moon mission is Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, known as the 'Rocket Woman of India'. Dr Karidhal is a senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the Mission Director of Chandrayaan-2 and the Deputy Operations Director of Mangalyaan, India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).
The Chandrayaan 3 landing time is set at 6.04 pm today evening. If the mission is successful, India will become the first country to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth's only natural satellite.?
Role model for women in STEM fields?
Fondly called the Rocket Woman of India for her leadership and immense contribution to ISRO's major projects, Karidhal is from Lucknow, India.?
She pursued a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Lucknow University. Later, she received her ME in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). In 1997, she joined ISRO.?
Karidhal has many awards to her name, such as 'ISRO Young Scientist Award' by former President APJ Abdul Kalam, 'ISRO Team Award for MOM (2015)', 'ASI Team Award', and 'Women Achievers in Aerospace, (2017)' by the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies & Industries (SIATI).?
According to the World Economic Forum, Karidhal has always been fascinated by space and has wanted to do something different. She used to collect paper cuttings of ISRO and NASA news reports.?
She has published more than 20 papers both in International and National Publications.?
Karidhal is a role model for women who dream of making a mark in STEM fields.?
Will become first nation to reach Moon's South polar region?
The Chandrayaan 3 ISRO mission, India's third moon mission, was successfully launched on July 14, at 2:35 PM IST, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in a journey to cover over 300,000 km to reach the Moon.?
A successful soft landing on the Moon will make India the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat after the United States, Russia, and China. Besides, India will become the first country to reach Moon's south polar region.?
India has launched two lunar missions so far. The first Chandrayaan mission was launched on October 22, 2008. The mission was known for its discovery of water on the Moon and later led to many other discoveries. The second mission, Chandrayaan-2, was launched on July 22, 2019; the lander made it to the lunar orbit but was later lost just 2.1 km above the Moon's surface.?
The main objective of Chandrayaan 3 is to conduct chemical analysis and find new technologies required for future planetary missions.? ?
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