Chandrayaan-3: Know the key leaders behind ISRO's historic lunar mission

Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing on the lunar surface is being eagerly awaited by the people not in India but across the world as the countdown for the same has begun. As it has been informed by the space agency the spacecraft is slated for a soft landing on the southern pole of the moon on August 23 in the evening. Since the lunar South Pole is considered challenging terrain, the spacecraft is looking out for a favourable touchdown venue. 

Earlier, Chandrayaan-3 completed all Lunar orbits and successfully underwent deboosting manoeuvres. On Thursday, the lander module, consisting of the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover separated from the propulsion module following which the lander module with a high-resolution camera also captured captivating images of the surface of the moon.

ISRO is at the helm of India's historic lunar mission

Loaded with enthusiasm and a positive spirit, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is at the helm of this precious venture and is continuously working to complete the mission. As the world is waiting to witness the glorious moment with bated breath, a longing to be introduced to those, who are leading the entire mission is also flourishing among the people. Everyone appears to be curious to learn about the key leaders, who are shouldering India's historic lunar mission. 

Amid the wait for the landing process to complete, let us know about the seven leaders behind India’s mega moon mission, the Chandrayaan-3. 

S Somanath, chairman, ISRO

S Somanath took charge of ISRO in January last year and ever since then, has become a pivotal figure in India's ambitious moon mission. Along with the ongoing Chandrayaan-3 mission, other major missions like Aditya-L1 to Sun and Gaganyaan (India’s first manned mission) are being done under his supervision. 

Ritu Karidhal Srivastava, senior scientist, ISRO

Senior Scientist Ritu Karidhal Srivastava is also popularly known as India’s ‘rocket woman’. She is the one who spearheaded the entire mission. Ritu Karidhal Srivastava was also the Deputy Operations Director for India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), Mangalyaan. 

S Unnikrishnan Nair, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)

S Unnikrishnan Nair supervised the development work of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark-III, which was renamed Launch Vehicle Mark-III, rocket. The launch vehicle was developed by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) at Thumba in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram. Nair, being the head of VSSC, is in charge of various key functions of the crucial mission. 

P Veeramuthuvel, project director, Chandrayaan-3

P Veeramuthuvel is the project director of the Chandrayaan-3 project, which he took over in 2019. Earlier, he also played an important role in the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which was India’s second edition of the ambitious Moon-mission series. 

M Sankaran, director, UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC)

The URSC formerly known as ISRO Satellite Centre is responsible for creating and building all the satellites for India’s ISRO. At present, M Sankaran is in charge of the URSC and is leading the team that makes satellites to meet the country’s needs in communication, navigation, remote sensing, weather forecasting, and even exploring other planets. 

A Rajarajan, chairman, Launch Authorisation Board (LAB)

The LAB gave the green signal for the Chandrayaan-3 launch under the guidance of A Rajarajan, who serves as the chairman of the board. He has been ensuring the infrastructure for ISRO’s growing launch needs-including Gaganyaan and SSLV. 

Chayan Dutta, deputy project director, Chandrayaan-3

Chayan Dutta is the deputy project director of the mission, who led the launch control of Chandrayaan-3. He is also the leader of the onboard command telemetry, data handling and storage system.