Chandrayaan 2: Meet the 'Rocket Women' directors incharge of India's ambitious lunar mission to its south pole

Chandrayaan 2 which is set to create history in India's ambitions by studying south pole of moon, is also unique in ar special aspect - bosses of planetary mission are women scientists- a first for ISRO.  ISRO has previously h women project directors for launch of communication and or satellites.

As we continue to marvel about techlogical intricacies behind elegant designs of Chandrayaan 2, let us kw more about Muthayya Vanitha - Chandrayan 2's Project Director and Ritu Karidhal- Chandrayaan 2's Mission Director. Both scientists in ir 40s have been with ISRO for over two deces and were part of Mangalyaan mission.

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Muthayya Vanitha (Chandrayan 2's Project Director ):

Vanitha is an electronics systems engineer who was previously in charge of making data handling systems for ir remote-sensing satellites. Here are some of her astonishing achievements:

• 2006 winner of best woman scientist award of Astronautical Society of India
• Deputy project director for data systems for remote sensing satellites Cartosat-1, Oceansat-2 and Megha-Tropiques.
• He of Telemetry and Telecommand divisions in digital systems group at satellite centre - UR Rao Centre
• A key member of Mangalyaan mission in 2013

As project director, Vanitha is responsible for project from very beginning, including configuration of entire system, its review, assembly and implementation. She is also to become a single-point authority for overall project. 

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Ritu Karidhal (Chandrayaan 2's Mission Director):

Karidhal is an Aero engineer holding a master's degree from Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and was part of Mangalyaan mission. Here are some details of her ISRO journey:

• A Luckw resident with dreams of working at ISRO, Karidhal started her journey in her teens following all of ISRO's projects.
• Was a key engineer responsible for operations of satellite in Mangalyaan mission. She was instrumental in making automation on satellite a reality which changed her career at ISRO.

As mission director, she will be handling operations of craft from time it is inserted into orbit to initial operations, raising orbit and taking all contingency actions when required. She will play a major role once satellite is injected into orbit.

What is Chandrayaan 2?

Chandrayaan 2 is an Indian lunar mission that will boldly go where country has ever gone before — Moon's south polar region, as explained by ISRO. With this achievement, India becomes fourth country after US, Russia and China to land a probe on lunar surface. India's Rs.960 crore lunar rocket 'Chandrayaan 2' is all set and currently prepping for its journey to south pole of moon, launching at 2:51 AM on July 15 from ISRO's launch base - Satish Dhawan Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Presh.