Meet Ritu Karidhal: 'Rocket Woman' Of India Serving As The Mission Director Of Chandrayaan-3

Chandrayaan-3 was launched at 2:35 pm IST on July 14, 2023, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.

Ritu Karidhal, a senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) known as the 'Rocket Woman' of India, is the Mission Director for Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar exploration mission. ( Image Source :PIB via Wikimedia Commons )

Ritu Karidhal, a senior scientist at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) known as the 'Rocket Woman' of India, is the Mission Director for Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar exploration mission. Chandrayaan-3 launched at 2:35 pm IST on July 14, 2023, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The Launch Vehicle Mark III rocket carried the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft towards a lunar circular orbit. The Mission Director authorised the launch at about 2:15 pm IST.

Karidhal played an important role in realising the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), India's first mission to the Red Planet. MOM, also known as Mangalayaan, reached the Red Planet in the first attempt. 

She obtained her Master of Science degree in Physics from Lucknow University, and subsequently a Master of Technology degree from Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. She was always fascinated with space, and collected news articles related to space activities conducted by ISRO and NASA during her school days. In November 1997, she joined the Indian space agency. 

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Karidhal has served as the operations director for several missions conducted by ISRO. As the Project Manager and Deputy Operations Director for MOM, Karidhal was responsible for leading a team to execute the critical operations of the orbiter leaving Earth and capturing Mars. 

According to the World Economic Forum, she has published more than 20 research papers.

In 2007, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Azad conferred Dr Karidhal the Young Scientist Award. The Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies & Industries (SIATI) awarded her the Women Achievers in Aerospace Award in 2017. 

Bank of Baroda has honoured her with the Birla Sun Achievement Award. 

Karidhal has also worked on ISRO's Chandrayaan-2 mission.

India aims to softly land Chandrayaan-3's lander on the Moon's south pole. If this mission is accomplished, India will become the fourth nation to successfully complete the soft landing of a spacecraft on Earth's natural satellite. Also, India will become the first country in the world to land a spacecraft on the Moon's south pole.