History Created: India Successfully Launches Chandrayaan-3 with Massive Contribution from Women Scientists

The Chandrayaan-3, India’s third moon mission, was launched successfully on July 14 and marked a landmark accomplishment for India's space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). At 2:35 pm, the satellite was launched by a Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre's second launch pad in Sriharikota. The "Rocket Woman of India," Ritu Karidhal, is in command of Chandrayaan 3.

Numerous women have made major contributions to Chandrayaan-3. According to an anonymous senior ISRO official, about 54 female engineers and scientists have personally worked on Chandrayaan-3. They act as project managers, associate project directors, and deputy project directors at various centres.

There are other intelligent women on the crew, including P. Madhuri, who is often seen commenting on rocket launches while working at the Sriharikota rocket port. This mission is India's second attempt at a successful lunar landing after Chandrayaan-2's unsuccessful soft landing in 2019. Up till now, only China, Russia, and the United States have managed to pull off the feat. The integrated module, which included a propulsion module, lander module, and rover, was placed into an elliptical parking orbit (EPO) with a size of around 170 by 36,500 kilometres 16.157 minutes after the LVM-3 launched.

The purpose of Chandrayaan-3 is to investigate and test new technologies needed for extraterrestrial missions. A rover, a lander module, and an indigenous propulsion module make up the project. The propulsion module will be used to push the lander and rover from an injection orbit to a 100 km lunar orbit. The Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planetary Earth (SHAPE) payload is also carried by the spacecraft and will allow researchers to examine spectral and polarimetric data of Earth taken from the lunar orbit.

According to ISRO, the lander is equipped to make a soft touchdown at a precise spot on the moon. The rover will undertake in-situ chemical analyses of the lunar surface while it is moving after it has been landed. For testing and data collection on the lunar surface, the lander and rover each include scientific payloads. The lander is anticipated to make a soft landing on the Moon on August 23 or 24, following a sequence of manoeuvres over the course of the following month, including Earthbound manoeuvres, lunar orbit insertion, moonbound manoeuvres, and PM and Lunar Module separation.

Chandrayaan-3's successful launch marks a significant advancement in India's space research aspirations. India hopes to expand its lunar exploration capabilities with this mission, opening the door for future interplanetary missions and advancing our knowledge of the Moon's makeup and its resources.