8 Awesome ISRO Scientists Who Happen To Be Women

Breaking the stereotypes, India's self-made women often remind us that any stream of study is not dependent on the gender. In this article, we celebrate the accomplishments of women in Science.

ISRO's achievement of launching 104 satellites in one go has given us a glimpse of the ¡°Rocket Women¡± of India.

Soon after setting the world record, these women came in the limelight and the stupendous amount of work done by them finally bagged applauses. While you may already know some of them from the famous Mars Orbiter Mission or Mangalyaan project, let's get to know all of them at once.

(Also read: 5 Things About ISRO¡¯s World Record Launch That Will Make You A Proud Indian)

1. Minal Sampath

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For two years, Minal Sampath, a systems engineer working on India's mission to Mars, worked flat out in a windowless room, often for 18 hours a day, to be ready for the country's most ambitious space project to date.

"We had a great team and there [was] an understanding between us that we [had] to get the work done to meet the deadline," she says.

Before the propulsion of India¡¯s Mangalyan in space, Mrs Sampath and all the researchers with her had abstained from taking any leaves, that too for over two years.

(Also read: After Launching 104 Satellites In A Day, ISRO Now Set For South Asian Satellite Launch By March End)

2. Anuradha TK

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When she first saw Neil Armstrong walking the moon, she was fascinated and intrigued and this is when she decided to become a space scientist. This journey of hers is a testament that we should never let our inner child die and pursue our dreams, no matter what.

Now, as the senior-most women officer at ISRO, Anuradha has become an inspiration for all the women working there, and others who want to become a part of it.

3. Ritu Karidhal

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Mother of two, Ritu has never let her personal life take over her love for science and space missions. As a kid, she spent hours every day on the terrace, sometimes studying her books, sometimes studying the stars.

"I have always had a fascination for mysteries of outer space, and knew that's what I wanted to get into," she said.

Later, she became the Deputy Operations Director of the Mars Orbiter Mission.

(Also read: Here Are The Men Who Made ISRO¡¯s World Record 104 Satellite Launch Possible)

4. Moumita Dutta

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One fine day, when Moumita was reading about India¡¯s first lunar probe, Chandrayaan 1, in the Anandabazar Patrika in her hometown of Kolkata, she thought ¡®How lucky those people are to have the opportunity to be part of this!¡¯

Fast forward to 2015, and Dutta became one of the top ISRO scientists, part of a team that worked on India¡¯s acclaimed Mars Orbiter Mission. Today, she is heading a team to make indigenous progress in optical sciences as a part of ¡®Make in India¡¯ initiative.

5. Nandini Harinath

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As a Deputy Director, Nandini feels proud to see the Mars Orbiter Mission on the new 2000 rupee notes. ISRO was her first job and she has stuck around for almost 20 years.

As a kid, when she drew inspiration from the revered Star Trek series, little did she know that she'd bag so much attention in this space.

¡°If you¡¯re doing mission operations you don¡¯t need to watch a science-fiction movie, we see the excitement in our day-to-day lives.¡± ¨C Nandini Harinath, Project Manager Mission Design, Deputy Operations Director, Mars Orbiter Mission, ISRO

(Also read: After ISRO's Record Breaking Launch, Twitter Trolls New York Times For Two-Year-Old Cartoon Mocking Mangalyaan Mission)

6. Kriti Faujdar

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Kriti Faujdar finds ISRO a supportive place to work at for a woman ¨C yet can¡¯t help but notice that there are not many of them. She is part of a team that monitors the satellites and the several other missions continuously.

7. N Valarmathi

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As the project director of RISAT-1 - India's first indigenously-developed Radar Imaging Satellite Valarmathi is the first person to receive Abdul Kalam Award, instituted by Government of Tamil Nadu in honour of the former president Abdul Kalam in 2015.

She joined ISRO back in 1984 and has been involved in many missions including Insat 2A, IRS IC, IRS ID, TES. She is the second woman scientist of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) to head a prestigious project after T K Anuradha, project director of the GSAT-12 mission in 2011.

8. Tessy Thomas

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Born in 1963, an engineer and the Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation, Tessy is is the first woman engineer to head a missile project in India. She is known as the 'Missile Woman' of India.

She works for the DRDO and not ISRO.

Most women at ISRO have been maintaning a friendly distance from lime-light. But it's about time that we get to know them and their achivements.