Women Are the Indian Space Agency’s Secret Weapon

Last week, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon. This success garnered plenty of media attention, overshadowing the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) relatively recent successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3. Another aspect of that August 2023 mission that was largely overlooked? The pivotal role female scientists played.

To understand Chandrayaan-3’s success, we have to talk about Chandrayaan-2 and its ambitious mission to study the composition of the lunar surface and identify locations containing lunar water. However, Chandrayaan-2 encountered several obstacles leading up to its launch, and on September 6, 2019, the probe tragically got off course and crashed into the moon’s surface. Further investigation revealed that a software glitch caused the crash. The five engines of the lander generated far more thrust than was necessary, and when combined with the tiny landing site, it made it impossible for the mission to be triumphant.

Landing on the moon and successfully keeping a spacecraft intact is exceptionally challenging. In 2019, the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crashed into the moon’s surface while trying to land. Similarly, in April this year, a private Japanese spacecraft crashed while attempting to land on the lunar surface. On August 19, 2023, the Russian spacecraft Luna-25 lost control and collided with the moon’s south pole.

Against this backdrop, Dr. Ritu Karidhal Srivastava was appointed the project director for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. She was determined to make this mission a success for her nation. She assembled her core team accordingly, which included 54 women scientists and engineers. Those women included Ms. Kalpana Kalahasti, a senior scientist with ISRO, who was appointed associate project director for the Chandrayaan-3 mission. A robotics specialist, Reema Ghosh worked on the “Pragyan” rover. Ms. Anuradha T.K., an expert in communications satellites, praised ISRO for providing equal opportunities for female scientists to work on critical missions to the moon and Mars. Along with other female scientists on the mission, such as Nandini Harinath, Moumita Dutta, Minal Rohit, Tessy Thomas, N. Valarmathi, and V.R. Lalithambika, these women are now referred to by the Indian media as the “Rocket Women of India.”

Srivastava’s team had to maintain the same total mass and budget ($75 million, less than one-third of Hollywood’s budget for the final Guardians of the Galaxy film) as the previous Chandrayaan-2 mission, which limited modifications to the lander. To address this, the team reconfigured the orbiter and lander, and ISRO provided a reduced-mass orbiter while incorporating sturdier legs and structural improvements to the lander. Reducing the orbiter’s mass allowed the lander to carry extra fuel and hold additional solar panels for power generation.

Shortly after the successful lunar landing on August 23, 2023, Indian Prime Minister Modi stated, “The women scientists of this mission have played a crucial role in ensuring its success. Without their contribution, this achievement would not have been possible.”

The successful landing of Chandrayaan-3 has put India in an exclusive group of nations, including the United States, the Soviet Union, and China, who have safely landed probes on the moon. India became the first country to land close to the moon’s south pole.

India’s space program has faced some criticism for being an unnecessary expense.

Some question why a developing nation with 145.71 million people living below the poverty line should allocate financial resources to explore space. However, astrophysicist and author Neil deGrasse Tyson defends ISRO, pointing out the positive effects of a successful space program: boosting national pride, driving innovation and economic growth, and giving rise to a private space sector.

ISRO’s Ritu Karidhal Srivastava and her colleagues aim to send Indian astronauts to the moon by 2040, inspiring many young girls to pursue STEM careers after Chandrayaan’s success.