Aditya-L1 success: Who is Nigar Shaji, the woman behind ISRO's Sun mission?

From the Moon Walk to celestial Surya Namaskar, India is taking a step forward in space history. On Saturday,  Aditya-L1 , the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) first solar mission, underwent its last manoeuvre and reached its final orbit, the desired destination from where it will make observations of the Sun for the next five years. More than four months ago, ISRO’s Sriharikota Launchpad marked the start of the ambitious mission to investigate the Sun. The driving force behind the launch is Nigar Shaji, the Aditya-L1 project director, who worked with her team to successfully execute the nation’s first space-based solar observatory mission. As India looks proudly towards the Sun, let’s learn more about Shaji and her journey so far. Nigar Shaji – the woman behind Aditya-L1 Shaji is a scientist from Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi district. She was born in Sengottai, a town in the state, to Sheikh Meeran, a mathematics graduate who turned to farming by choice, and Saitoon Biwi, a homemaker. According to Moneycontrol, the 59-year-old attended Tirunelveli Government Engineering College to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication engineering. She then went on to Birla Institute of Technology in Mesra to pursue her Master’s in the same field. In 1987, Shaji began her career in space at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. She subsequently held numerous important roles at the UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru. “I applied to an ad from ISRO when I was in my seventh semester, but was interviewed and selected six months after graduation. This was the first job I got, and I just stayed on, because I love it so much,” she told The Hindu. Before taking on the role of project director for Aditya-L1, she was the associate project director for “Resourcesat-2A,” an Indian remote-sensing satellite that is vital for managing and monitoring national resources. According to The Print, together with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Shaji is working on two more projects: the Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (also known as Mangalyaan-2), which is anticipated to be a lander, and Chandrayaan-4/LUPEX (Lunar Polar Explorer). Additionally, she is in charge of the EXO global mission, which studies planets beyond our solar system, and is the study director for the Venus project. She has been promoted to the position of programme director at ISRO, where she will be in charge of all lower-level missions, including interplanetary ones. According to The New Indian Express, Shaji currently lives in Bengaluru with her mother and children. She has an engineer husband in the Middle East and a scientist son in the Netherlands. When not working, Shaji enjoys hiking with friends and reading Tamil and English novels, as per The Hindu. “No gender bias at ISRO” Shaji has spent over 30 years in the space industry and has witnessed how various professions have become more accepting. “When I was studying, women were not even offered mechanical engineering courses. Now you have women fighter pilots in the Air Force. Gender is not an issue in ISRO; what matters is your technical aptitude and passion for the job. I personally have never felt the glass ceiling in my career,” she told The Hindu. “But I wish more women, especially in rural areas, would stop holding themselves back and raise their self-esteem. They must know that they are not inferior in any way.” Under her kind smile, Nigar admits scientists find her to be a strong individual. “Yes, I’m a very strict boss,” she says, according to The Hindu, adding, “but only at work.” “No life without the Sun” Speaking about India’s latest space-observatory mission, Shaji told The Hindu, “There is no life on Earth without the Sun, but even now we cannot say we have understood it properly. Our mission will focus on phenomena like coronal mass ejection, solar plays and solar wind. It would aid in creating a better space weather model; accurate predictions will save our space assets.” India joins a small group of nations, as only a few have dared to build space-based solar observatories, Shaji told NDTV. More on Aditya-L1 India’s first solar exploration mission, Aditya-L1, jointly created by ISRO and other Indian research organisations, was launched on 2 September 2023. The aim of this expedition is to study the Sun in detail. In Sanskrit, “Aditya” refers to the Sun, and “L1” designates Lagrange Point 1, a critical location in the Sun-Earth system. Over 1.5 million kilometres, or one-100th of the distance between Earth and the Sun, separate it from us. Aditya-L1, on 6 January, was successfully inserted into Lagrange Point 1, one of the five locations in the Earth-Sun system where the gravitational effects of the two roughly cancel each other out. According to ISRO, it is “relatively stable point” for a spacecraft to be parked and make observations of the Sun. Informing about the achievement, ISRO proudly wrote on X, “India, I did it. I have reached to my destination! Aditya-L1 has successfully entered the Halo orbit around the L1 point.”

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧!

Aditya-L1 has successfully entered the Halo orbit around the L1 point.#ISRO #AdityaL1Mission #AdityaL1 pic.twitter.com/6gwgz7XZQx

— ISRO InSight (@ISROSight) January 6, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while terming it as yet another landmark, wrote on X, “India creates yet another landmark. India’s first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches it’s destination. It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions. I join the nation in applauding this extraordinary feat. We will continue to pursue new frontiers of science for the benefit of humanity.”

India creates yet another landmark. India’s first solar observatory Aditya-L1 reaches it’s destination. It is a testament to the relentless dedication of our scientists in realising among the most complex and intricate space missions. I join the nation in applauding this…

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 6, 2024

Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh said, “From Moon walk to Sun Dance! What a glorious turn of year for Bharat! Under the visionary leadership of PM Modi, yet another success story scripted by Team ISRO. Aditya-L1 reaches its final orbit to discover the mysteries of Sun-Earth connection.”

From Moon walk to Sun Dance! What a glorious turn of year for Bharat!
Under the visionary leadership of PM @narendramodi, yet another success story scripted by Team #ISRO. #AdityaL1 reaches its final orbit to discover the mysteries of Sun-Earth connection.

— Dr Jitendra Singh (@DrJitendraSingh) January 6, 2024

With inputs from agencies