Chandrayaan 2 project director M Vanitha will not work on next moon mission: Report

Impact site of Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram lander as photographed by NASA’s LRO mission (Image: Twitter/@NASA)

Chandrayaan 2 Project Director M Vanitha is not going to be retained in the team working on India’s next moon mission Chandrayaan 3, The Times of India has reported. She has been replaced by P Veeramuthuvel from ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisarion).

However, Ritu Karidhal, whose team was responsible for the mission, will continue to be the Mission Director for Chandrayaan 3.

Vanitha’s team was responsible for all systems on Chandrayaan 2, whose Vikram lander had failed to soft-land on the lunar surface on September 9, having nearly completed the journey from Earth to Moon.  ISRO has not officially given out the reason for not retaining Vanitha as the project director for the next moon mission.

The organisation had garnered high praise for the appointment of Vanitha and Karidhal as project director and mission director, respectively.

A November 28 ISRO order accessed by the newspaper reads, “M Vanitha, outstanding scientist and currently project director, Chandrayaan 2, is hereby designated deputy director, Payload, Data Management and Space Astronomy Area (PDMSA).”

“P Veeramuthuvel, scientist/engineer SF is hereby transferred from ISRO headquarters and designated project director, Chandrayaan 3,” the order stated further.

Another order dated December 7 stated that Veeramuthuvel will also head the project management team, which has all deputy project directors as members.

According to the publication, ISRO has identified 29 deputy project directors, who will be responsible for various aspects of the mission, including the lander and the rover.