Meet Ritu Karidhal, the Indian Scientist Who Led India's Mars Mission & Chandryaan 3

On August 3rd Chandryaan 3 scripted history in the field of space and exploration. The ISRO's Lunar Mission made a soft landing on Moon's South pole. Dr. Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, an ISRO senior scientist, was leading the trip. She is known as India's "Rocket Woman" for her role in developing India's Mangalyaan Mars Orbiter Mission, which included designing and executing the craft's fully autonomous system. She served as this mission's deputy operations director as well. One of ISRO's greatest successes was Mangalyaan. India became the fourth nation in the world to reach Mars as a result. Let’s take a look at her biography.

Ritu Karidhal Biography

Dr. Ritu Karidhal Srivastava is a scientist who works for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). She was the Deputy Operations Director for India's Mangalyaan Mars orbital project. She has been referred to as one of India's numerous "Rocket Women." She was born and raised in Lucknow and works as an aerospace engineer.

Ritu Karidhal Family And Education

Karidhal was born in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. She grew up in a middle-class family that valued education highly. She is the youngest of four siblings. Karidhal received her Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of Lucknow. She earned her M. Sc. in Physics from the University of Lucknow and was accepted into the Physics Department's doctoral programme. She went on to teach in the same department. She spent six months as a research scholar at Lucknow University. She enrolled to IISc in Bangalore to obtain a master's degree in aerospace engineering. 

Ritu Karidhal Career

Ritu Karidhal has been an ISRO employee since 1997. She was instrumental in the creation of India's Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan, overseeing the design and implementation of the craft's onward autonomous system. She was also the mission's Deputy Operations Director. Mangalyan was one of ISRO's crowning achievements. It became India the world's fourth country to reach Mars. It was completed in 18 months and at a much lower cost to taxpayers - 450 crores merely. Her task was to design and implement the craft's autonomous autonomy system, which allowed the satellite to operate freely in orbit and respond effectively to failures.

As mission director, she oversaw the Chandrayaan 2 mission. When the United Kingdom assumed the G7 presidency in 2021, Karidhal was nominated to a newly constituted Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) chaired by Sarah Sands by the country's Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss.