ROCKET WOMEN

WOMEN IN INDIA ARE NOT ONLY VENTURING INTO SPACE BUT ARE ALSO STARTING TO SPEARHEAD THE COUNTRY'S EFFORTS IN THE GLOBAL SPACE RACE.

- NEETU CHANDRA SHARMA

AS THE INDIAN Space Research Organisation (Isro) gears up for Gaganyaan, its first human spaceflight mission, scheduled for 2025, the excitement is palpable. The question is not whether Isro can send a crew into a low-Earth orbit but when a woman will get there. (The four candidates training for the first flight are all men and Indian Air Force pilots.) For Isro, sending a woman into space is not a big deal; it's the next logical step. Women account for over a quarter of its scientific and technical workforce, holding key posts, leading teams and driving innovation.

Take Neelavathy M., 58, senior scientist and Deputy Director at Isro's UR Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru. Her first significant achievement was nearly a decade ago when she led the team that designed a communication system for Mangalyaan, the Mars Orbiter Mission or MOM.

She also recalls her recent responsibility of leading a team configuring the GSAT-7 series of satellites. "With tight deadlines and immense pressure, we worked in perfect sync," Neelavathy says. "We had no time to think in gender terms. The focus was on solving the problem." The camaraderie she experienced in that project epitomises Isro's culture: success is a collective triumph.

When the applause erupted first for the successful launch of the Mars orbiter on November 5, 2013, and then for the orbiter's successful insertion in a Mars orbit on September 24, 2014, and the Chandrayaan-3 Moon landing, it was a victory shared by Isro's men and women. "At Isro, gender has never dictated who gets the top assignments," Neelavathy says.

"Your technical capability and ability to inspire confidence in your team members determine your success." In the 38 years since Neelavathy joined as a Scientist/Engineer-SB, her career has seen many milestones, such as designing and delivering telemetry and ranging systems for over 30 satellites, including Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2.