Meet India's 'Rocket Woman' Dr Ritu Karidhal, Who Led ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 Mission - News18
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Ritu Karidhal joined ISRO in November 1997.
After serving as the Deputy Operations Director of the Mangalyaan-1 mission, Dr Ritu Karidhal was appointed as the Mission Director of the Chandrayaan-2 program.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission was successfully launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday at 2:35 pm from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. Chandrayaan-3 is the country’s third lunar mission and second attempt at a soft landing on the surface of the moon.
A top ISRO official stated earlier that approximately 54 female engineers and scientists were actively involved in the Chandrayaan-3 program. These individuals were assigned a variety of jobs, including associates, deputy project directors and project managers for various systems.
The mission is led by Dr Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, one of the senior scientists at ISRO. Often called the ‘Rocket woman of India’ Dr Srivastava has helmed many important projects at ISRO in his more than two-decade old stint at the apex space exploration body.
Dr Ritu Karidhal was born and brought up in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. She completed her M.Tech from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru in 1996 after completing her M.Sc in Physics from Lucknow University, where she also pursued her PhD. She reportedly grew up with a fascination for space science and a desire to learn more about it. During her school days, she enjoyed collecting news items about any space-related endeavours of NASA and ISRO.
Dr Srivastava joined ISRO in November 1997 and started working at the UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC). She received the Young Scientist Award from former President of India and eminent scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam in 2007.
She was a part of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), Mangalyaan-1. In 2012, she was posted as the Deputy Operations Director of the mission. After the successful completion of the Mars Mission on September 24, 2014, Dr Srivastava received the ISRO Team Award for MOM in 2015. In 2017, she received the Women Achievers in Aerospace Award from the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies and Industries.
After Mangalyaan-1, Dr Karidhal was appointed as the Mission Director of Chandrayaan-2. The mission was finally launched on July 22, 2019. The Chandrayaan mission was headed by 30% women and it gave Dr Ritu Karidhal worldwide recognition.
Commenting on Ritu Karidhal’s journey, Lucknow University Professor Poonam Tandon said, “It is a matter of pride for us since she has been our student. She was a bright student and even qualified for GATE. She got selected in ISRO while she was pursuing her PhD from here."
Dr Srivastava’s family along with her husband and children, also celebrated the successful launch of ISRO’s LVM3 M4 vehicle into orbit, by distributing sweets.
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