Appreciating the real 'chandra' of Chandrayaan 2; ISRO's woman scientists mark a 'Giant leap for womankind'

New Delhi, July 22: If Lunar landing of Apollo 11 was hailed as 'Giant leap for mankind' the launch of #Chandrayaan2 will be remembered as a 'Giant leap for womankind.' It is because of these women who led the ISRO team to achieve this great success. All hails to Muthayya Vanitha & Ritu Karidhal, ISRO's two women directors in charge of the mission, the country bows to these unsung heroes of Chandrayaan 2. But their work hasn't ended until Chandrayaan 2 lands on the moon in September later this year.

 

Earlier to this, ISRO had women project leads for the launch of communication satellites and other smaller payloads, but never for a huge, big-budget launch like Mangalyaan or Chandrayaan 1. All of that changed with Chandrayaan 2 as it rode the GSLV MKIII and broke away its earthy shackles, where ISRO and India created history by having these two heroes as two distinguished women leading the prestigious moon mission something that has never happened before.

Muthayya Vanitha has a distinguished career within ISRO, and this latest Chandrayaan 2 mission is just another feather in her cap. Vanitha has become the first-ever woman project director at ISRO, breaking barriers like never before.

Ritu Karidhal is fondly regarded as the "Rocket Woman" of India, as she was the deputy operations director for Mangalyaan in 2013-2014. She's been there and done that, and now holds the mantle of Chandrayaan 2's mission director.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in his tweet, congratulated the two rocket women saying, “If Lunar landing of Apollo 11 was hailed as 'Giant leap for mankind' the launch of #Chandrayaan2 will be remembered as a 'Giant leap for womankind.' Congratulations to the ISRO team led by space scientists M.Vanitha & Ritu Karidhal for India's leap to the lunar south pole.”