Looking Back At India's Women-Led Space Mission Chandrayaan 2

 Vanitha Muthayya and Ritu Karidhal from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) changed history and made us all proud by making Chandrayaan-2 India's first-ever space mission led by two women. Muthayya was the project director heading the country's second lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2, while Karidhal was the mission director.

Chandrayaan-2 united the entire country and despite the lunar lander Vikram failing to make a successful soft landing, close to 500 metres or less, the mission will be written in history. One reason is that the mission would be inspiring to more young women as it will be India's first interplanetary mission led by women. 

According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, less than 30 percent of the world's researchers are women, and this mission of Chandrayaan-2 is believed to be encouraging more women.

Meet The Women Scientists Who Led Chandrayaan 2 Mission

Vanitha Muthayya, project director of Chandrayaann-2 is an expert in data handling. She has earlier interpreted data coming from spacecraft Chandrayaan-1. With her excellent problem-solving and team managing skills, Muthayya led the mission of Chandrayaan-2 as project director.  She has earlier worked as deputy project director in many spacecraft missions such as Cartosat-1, Oceansat-2, and many others. Muthayya won the Best Women Scientist Award in 2006.

Ritu Karidhal, mission director of Chandrayaan-2 and one of the main tasks in the mission involved handling orbital insertion of the spacecraft. Karidhal was also the deputy operations director of the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) India's first successful interplanetary mission. Karidhal hails from a middle-class family in Lucknow is working with ISRO since 1997, and received ISRO Young Scientists Award in 2007 from former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

A source in ISRO revealed to Times Of India, that mission Chandrayaan was led by 300 members and around 20-30 percent of the team was women-led.

In ISRO's Gaganyaan mission that envisages human spaceflight, India is planning to send one woman astronaut along with a team of 2 others. VR Lalithambika, a women scientist, and head of the Human Space Programme Office is helping through mission coordination which is set to be launched by the end of 2023.

Missions like Chandrayaan and MOM can play an emerging role in encouraging young women and inspiring everyone globally. It will also highlight the pivotal roles played in Indian space science.

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