India’s third moon mission Chandrayaan-3 is on its way to bring glory to the country. It is almost a festival like celebration all across the country. The launch is being led by our own ‘rocket woman’ Ritu Karidhal Srivastava. Ritu is an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientist who is the mission director of Chandrayaan-3.
Ritu has already turned into an inspiration for millions of Indian women. However, this is not the first big mission for her. She was a Deputy Operations Director for India’s Mars orbital mission, also called Mangalyaan in 2013. Following the success of the mission, Ritu soon turned her eyes to the moon.
Ritu Karidhal Srivastava’s Educational Background
Ritu had a humble beginning as she didn’t have the resource to achieve her dreams. But her self-motivation and determination were hard to beat. Born in Lucknow, she completed her B. Sc. in Physics from the University of Lucknow. She then pursued her Masters of Sciences in Physics from Lucknow University in 1996 and MTech from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru. She later enrolled in a doctorate course in the Physics Department. Ritu was conferred honoris causa (an honorary doctorate) D.Sc by Lucknow University.
After six months of being a research scholar at Lucknow University, Ritu joined IISc, Bangalore, to pursue masters in aerospace engineering. She joined ISRO in 1997 and received the ISRO Young Scientist Award in 2007 from A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the president of India.
What an incredible woman! No wonder she was picked to be the mission director for Chandrayaan-3.
Everything You Need To Know About Chandrayaan-3
Chandrayaan-3 marks the ISRO’s second attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon. The success of this mission will make India the fourth country—after the United States, Russia, and China— to achieve this goal.
Chandrayaan-3 mission will show the world India’s growing technical capabilities in space research. The lunar probe will study lunar quakes, thermal properties of the surface of the moon, changes in the plasma near the surface, and a passive experiment to measure the distance between Earth and the moon.
I am so proud of Ritu for pulling off this incredible achievement. This Rocket Woman is truly a visionary!
Featured Image: Instagram
