A city girl who has played key roles in the Mars Orbiter Mission and the country’s three Chandrayaan missions said her aspirations of becoming a space physicist were ignited when she was a postgraduate student at Rajabazar Science College.

Moumita Dutta, a scientist at the Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, was in the city for a reunion programme organised by the ex-students’ association of her alma mater, Holy Child Institute, Beadon Street.

“I was an MTech student and I had read about Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) preparing for the Chandrayaan mission. It excited me and when I got the opportunity to join Isro, I could not let go of it. It so happened that I got the opportunity to work in the Chandrayaan-1 mission,” said Dutta.

Dutta handled the Chandrayaan-2 optical instruments for the orbiter. For Chandrayaan-3, she was part of the team that set up the clean room and laboratories where Chandryaan-3 cameras were tested.

“We were under pressure but we were simultaneously excited and confident about the landing of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the south pole of the moon. It was a scientific milestone and an engineering marvel,” said Dutta.

It was after Chandrayaan-3’s successful soft landing on the moon, that one of the organisers of Tuesday’s programme, an alumna, learnt that Dutta was part of the mission.

“We read about her in the newspaper but we had no contact with her. We managed to get in touch with her and she responded, making time for us despite her schedule,” said Jayanti Mukherjee, a member of the ex-students’ association from the batch of ‘87.

Dutta is currently a scientist at the Space Applications Centre, a research and development centre of Isro in
Ahmedabad.

She is deputy project director of various EOS (Electro Optic Systems).

During the Mars Orbiter Mission, Dutta was the project manager for the onboard optical instruments.

Dutta still remembers Durga Puja in 2013, when she and her colleague were in Sriharikota for a test of the instruments of the Mars Orbiter Mission, after which they returned to Ahmedabad.

“The same day, we were told we had to travel back to Sriharikota for another test launch. I was hosting a cultural programme in the evening and after finishing that, we took a flight to Chennai around midnight. Then, we travelled to Sriharikota for the test the next day,” she said.

Of the ‘94 batch of Holy Child Institute, Dutta said that all that she has learnt in school holds her in good stead in both her workplace and personal life.

“The teachers used to take surprise tests, something that we would grudge in school. But that taught us to combat or handle any emergency without being prepared for it and complete a task within a stipulated time,” she said.

Dutta wants more women to join space science. “Often women put a limit on themselves and that holds them back, be it wanting to become a scientist or joining the airforce. There is an increase in the number of women who are joining Isro but as a woman, I would want more and more women to come,” she said.

“If schools can motivate them to become space scientists and mentor them, many girls would be able to make their dreams come true,” she said.

Dutta was felicitated by Sister Romana, former principal of Holy Child Institute, who was the principal during Dutta’s school days.

“I feel proud of my student,” Sister Romana said.