Who is Nigar Shaji, the scientist who served as project director for Aditya-L1 solar mission

Nigar Shaji joined the Satish Dhawan Space Center in 1987 and later worked at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. (Image credit: Screengrab from Twitter/ShivAroor).

Less than two weeks after ISRO's successful mission to the moon's south pole, India wrote yet another new chapter in their space science history on Saturday by launching a solar mission- Aditya-L1- successfully from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

At the heart of the launch was Nigar Shaji- the project director of Aditya-L1 mission, who along with her team ensured the successful execution of the mission on Saturday.

Here's everything you need to know about Shaji and her journey so far:

• The 59-year-old Shaji is a scientist from Tenkasi district of Tamil Nadu. She was born in Sengottai town of the state to Sheikh Meeran, a farmer and Saitoon Biwi, a homemaker.
• Shaji completed her Bachelor's Degree in electronics and communication engineering from Tirunelveli government engineering college and later pursued her Masters in electronics and communications from Birla Institute of Technology in Ranchi.
• Shaji joined the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in 1987 and later worked at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, where she held several key positions before being appointed the project director of Aditya-L1. Shaji was also headed the Satellite telemetry centre at ISRO, Bengaluru.

#WATCH | On the successful launch of Aditya L-1, Project Director of Aditya L-1, Nigar Shaji says, "This is like a dream come true. I am extremely happy that Aditya L-1 has been injected by PSLV. Aditya L-1 has started its 125 days of long journey. Once Aditya L-1 is… pic.twitter.com/zs1avDJ9ba

— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2023

• Shaji lives with her mother and daughter in Bengaluru. Her husband works as an engineer in the Middle East while her son is a scientist in Netherlands.

"Shaji's husband, an engineer, is working in a Gulf country, and her son is also working as a scientist in the Netherlands. Her daughter and our mother are staying with Shaji in Bengaluru. We lost our father 30 years ago," Shaji's brother S Sheik Saleem told The New Indian Express.

• Before becoming the Aditya-L1's project director, Shaji served as the associate project director for the Indian remote sensing satellite "Resourcesat-2A", which is a key asset for national resource monitoring and management.