Challenges  and Accomplishments of Interplanetary Missions:

Mangalyaan, Chandrayaan and Beyond

Talk Abstract: Mars Orbiter Mission  was the most prestigious and challenging one as it was totally a new kind of mission for ISRO from conceptualization till Mars Orbiter Insertion.  Implementing full scale onboard autonomy for an interplanetary mission and making it capable of having self-diagnostics and self-recovery was one of the toughest tasks. After rigorous  process of  brainstorming sessions with all engineers ( mechanical, electrical, electronics ), a network of autonomy was drafted with different levels of fault detection and recovery. Thousands of lines of new code were implemented on onboard computers followed  by  extensive reviews and then  testing. And all this in a mere 10 months of time ,something which looked very much impossible at the beginning but could be achieved in record time . The next major challenge for MOM was to design a precise path, a trajectory which would take the spacecraft from Earth to Mars with minimum fuel. Everything had to get realized within a short span of 18 months as such missions are basically driven by tight Launch Windows and here if it gets missed , it requires again the wait time of 26 months. On 24th September, 2014, MOM successfully entered Martian Orbit with many First’s in its account. It was the first Mars mission in the world to succeed in its first attempt.It wasthe Most economical interplanetary mission in the world. It was the the Project got realized in shortest time of 18 months. It was first Indian Satellite having full scale onboard autonomy. And above all , it was the Youngest team that worked for this mission.

Similarily for Chandrayaan Mission , ensuring the soft and safe landing on Moon surface is highly challenging and complex task . Study of huge amount of image data for landing site selection ,performing various critical tests ensuring rugged design capable of handling real time failures in autonomous manner , design and implementation of complete autonomy onboard etc. are few of the extensively demanding and complex tasks for such missions. On 23rd August , 2023 , Chandrayaan made successful landing near to South Pole region of Moon . It created history by becoming the First one to reach near Southern part of Moon. The landing point is called as “ Shiv Shakthi” point signifying the importance of the contribution made by both women and men scientists in realizing such a feat .    

There are many unknown aspects of deep space which needs to be explored and understood. Such missions become necessary to pave the way for more advanced projects and ensure the involvementof future generation scientists and engineers in realizing them.

Speaker Bio: Ritu Karidhal  is a Senior Scientist in Indian Space Research Organisation with a key role in realizing the Mars Orbiter Mission, which created history of being the first mission to reach Mars in its first attempt. She is also the Mission Director of Chandrayaan-2 and integral  part of Chandrayan-3 team.

She did M.Sc. in Physics from Lucknow University and then M.Tech  from Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. She joined ISRO in year 1997. She has worked for many prestigious missions of ISRO and also handled responsible position for many missions.

Being the Deputy Operations Director for MOM, she, with her team, was responsible for executing the critical operations of Leaving Earth and Capturing Mars, which could be realized flawlessly. Being the Mission Director of Chandrayaan-2, she was responsible for executing the mission operations from lift-off till reaching the Moon. Also being an integral part of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, she was responsible for ensuring the mission configuration for Lander and Rover accounting for the changes and enhancements based on Chandrayaan-2 experience. One of her major contributions was the selection of a landing site near the south pole of the Moon which plays a significant role in any landing mission.

Mrs Ritu Karidhal has published more than 35 papers in both international and national publications. She is a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics.

She has been the recipient of many awards including “Young Scientist Award in 2007 by  Shri Abdul Kalam, the then President of India, “Lakshmipati Singhania Young Leader Award” in Science and Technology by Honble’ President of India Smt Drooped Murmu in 2023, UP Gaurav Samman 2023 by Honble’ UP Chief Minister Shri Yogi Adityanath, “ISRO Team Award for  MOM in 2015 ”, “ASI Team Award “, “Women Achievers in Aerospace, 2017” by SIATI(Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies & Industries (SIATI), “ The Baroda Sun Achievement Award “ by Bank of Baroda. She was a member of the Gender Equality Advisory Council of G7 under the UK Presidency in the year 2021. Currently, she is the group director of the Mission Planning and Operations Group.

She has received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from U.P Governor Mrs. Anandiben Patel at Lucknow University Lucknow and also the IISC Alumnus Award 2019 at Bangalore.