India is on the Moon!

A few days ago, India made history as the first country ever to land a mission to the southern polar region of the moon. I’ve watched the video about a half dozen times now and it seems like it’s a mix between a 1980s video game, and the most awe-inspiring video I’ve seen all summer (mostly the latter!).

The Chandrayaan-3 is the third mission under the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), consisting of a lander (named Vikram) and a rover (named Prahyan). This was India’s second attempt to land on the lunar South Pole – three years ago, the Chandrayaan-2 crashed while attempting to land a similar mission. The lunar South Pole is particularly interesting because some studies show that there is a fair amount of ice there – which could be useful for future missions with humans aboard. India has had some marked success with its relatively new space program – orbiting the moon and Mars at a far lower cost than other nations.

In milestones like this, I also find it helpful to seek out the unsung heroes (especially the women) that helped make this mission possible (in a callback perhaps, to the USA’s own Hidden Figures). There’s Ritu Karidhal, known as one of the “Rocket Women of India”, a scientist and engineer within ISRO, who spent so much of her childhood gazing at the night sky. Nandini Harinath, who has contributed to 14 missions, born to a math teacher and an engineer, and who learned to love science through Star Trek. Anuradha T.K., who started with ISRO in 1982, retired as the most senior female scientist within the organization, who was inspired by Neil Armstrong when he landed on the moon. Minal Rohit, who serves as the Deputy Project Director at ISRO and oversees critical aspects of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Tessy Thomas, the first ever woman scientist to head a missile in India, who credits her exposure to nature in Kerala’s backwaters to her strength and perseverance.

The list goes on and on, and certainly there are thousands of Indians who helped bring the country to this milestone. To them, I raise a glass this evening, for accomplishing their goals, for continuing in the face of Chandrayaan-2’s failure, and for dreaming big. And I give credit to their pursuit of an education – for many of the women I mentioned, it came from their parents and families who encouraged them to continue on their educational path. Often it came from mothers who may not have had an opportunity to go to college, who wanted better for their daughters. It’s achievements like this that remind us of the work we do with Impact Network each day, little by little, to ensure that a little girl in Joel village who is looking at the night sky might one day have the chance to study it.