ISRO WOMEN SCIENTISTS

WHY ISRO NEEDS MORE WOMEN

TO CONQUER THE MOON?

 -BY SHRUTI RAJPUT 

“FEMINISM”- Word of the year 2017. This word had made a strong impact on the lives of people from last 2 years. But it still leaves some space for society to question the ability of women to stand on their own. “Oh, you are a woman, Do you really want to do this?” “What? How society is going to react if you fail at this? ” “This field is for men.” Blah Blah !!

 These are some questions and mindsets which almost all the women still go through. But inspite of all those negativites women still

grow and shine in all the fields let it be business, finance, politics, sports, film industry, teaching, DJ, bartenders, army, transport and what not. Women like Kalpna Chawla, Mary Kom, Arunima Sinha, Saina Nehwal, Kiran Desai, Neerja Bhanot, Sarla Thakral, Gita Gopinath, Hima Das, Priyanka Chopra have made India proud and have taken their nation to another level.

 But there is still a field where ratio of women is quite low as compared to men. India still has alow representation of women in the fields of Astronomy and Astrophysics. At present, the ratio of women in A&A is around 30%. A 2018 report in The Wire had stated, “the latest figures from International Astronomical Union (IAU) shows that ratio of female to male professional astronomers in India is 9% which is quite lower than most other scientifically advanced countries in the world as well as less than the overall global average of 16.6%.

 But ISRO experience shows that gender has no role to play, says Minnie Vaid. Feasibility study’s institutions in August 2010 showed that a team of 500 centres were roped in for the MOM ( Mars Orbiter Mission), with at least 27% of the key executive positions being held by women. Nandini Harinath and Ritu Karidhal handled the mission operations at URSC. Moumita Dutta and Minal Sampat built and tested the scientific instruments at the Space Application Centre. ISRO’s women scientists are slowly yet empathetically changing this paradign through their performances. 

 CHANDRAYAAN-2 (almost to be successful mission) is India’s first interplanetary mission to be steered by two women - Muthayya Vanitha ,project director, first Indian woman

director at ISRO and earlier she was also responsible for data handling systems for India’s remote sensing satellites. Ritu Karidhal, mission director, also known as “Rocket Woman” of India. Previously, she was the deputy operations director of Mangalyaan in 2013-14.

 Women scientists in the team of Mission Chandrayaan-2 have shown that time is changingfor space-loving little girls who want to leave their footprints in space. The government wants to help too, which is why the Vigyan Jyoti Scheme was initiated by Department of science and Technology (DST) so that the young girls can get mentorship from women scientists. But unfortunately, these changes are not happening as fast as they should. Women still make up only about a fifth of the ISRO workforce. 

 To all the young women who want to take up science as a career, my advice is to just go ahead. Be boldand do not hesitate to follow your passion. Have confidence in your abilities and in yourself. ISRO needs you to conquer the moon.   

         “ Break the shackles of society”