From Lucknow to ISRO
Ritu Karidhal was born in Lucknow. After studying physics and doing aerospace-related higher study at IISc, she joined ISRO.
She built long experience in satellite mission planning, spacecraft autonomy and operations.
Mangalyaan
In the Mars Orbiter Mission she served in an important role as a Deputy Operations Director. The challenge was to take an interplanetary spacecraft all the way to Mars orbit with limited mass, power and money, on a tight schedule.
Moving from Earth-orbit spacecraft to interplanetary operations was a big leap in technical complexity. In space missions, reliability comes from small details, simulations and coordination across teams.
Moon missions and a new generation
Later she held senior mission responsibilities in the Chandrayaan programme.
Mangalyaan demonstrated India’s deep-space capability and raised ISRO’s credibility in the public imagination worldwide. Her visibility has changed what many young students in India believe they can become.
Sources
- IISc Connect: Ritu Karidhal
- ISRO: Mars Orbiter Mission publications
- ISRO
- connect.iisc.ac.in/2020/03/a-martian-odyssey/
- isro.gov.in/media_isro/pdf/Publications/Sciencedata/mars_orbiter_mission_mom_-_list_of_publications-october2020.pdf
- isro.gov.in/