Moumita Dutta is an Indian Physicist working at the

Space Applications Centre The Space Applications Centre (SAC) is an institution of research in Ahmedabad under the aegis of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is one of the major centres of ISRO that is engaged in the research, development and demonstra ...

(SAC),

Indian Space Research Organisation The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO; ) is the national space agency of India, headquartered in Bengaluru. It operates under the Department of Space (DOS) which is directly overseen by the Prime Minister of India, while the Chairman of ...

(ISRO) - Ahmedabad, as a scientist/engineer. She has expertise in the development and testing of the Optical and IR sensors/instruments/payloads (i.e. cameras and imaging spectrometers). She was part of the team

Mars Orbiter Mission The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called ''Mangalyaan'', was a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was India's first interplanetary missio ...

(MOM) to put a probe into orbit around

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...

in 2014. She contributed significantly in the development of one of the five payloads of MOM.

Life, education and career

Dutta was raised in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. She read about the Chandrayaan mission as a student and became interested in joining the

(ISRO) in 2004. Dutta's interest in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

, started in the ninth grade, led to her career as an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. Dutta currently works as a Project Manager for the Mars Mission. Dutta obtained her M Tech degree in Applied Physics from the

Rajabazar Science College The University College of Science, Technology and Agriculture (commonly or formerly known as Rashbehari Siksha Prangan & Taraknath Palit Siksha Prangan or Rajabazar Science College & Ballygunge Science College) are two of five main campuses of ...

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

. She joined the

, Ahmedabad in 2006. Since then she has been involved in many prestigious projects like Oceansat, Resourcesat, HySAT, Chandrayan I and

. She was chosen to work as Project Manager for the

Methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Ear ...

Sensor for Mars and was given the responsibility for the development of the complete optical system, optimisation and characterisation and calibration of the sensor. Presently she is also leading a team in the indigenous development of optical instruments (i.e. imaging spectrometers) and working towards the realisation of the ‘Make in India’ concept. Her research area includes miniaturisation of gas sensors which involves state-of-the-art technologies in the field of optics.

Awards

She is a recipient of the ISRO Team of Excellence Award for the

Mangalyaan The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called ''Mangalyaan'', was a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was India's first interplanetary missi ...

Interests

Besides being a space

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

, she is interested in

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

, creative writing,

recitation A recitation in a general sense is the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse or other writing before an audience. Public recitation is the act of reciting a work of writing before an audience. Academic recitation In ac ...

and

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Moumita Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Indian women engineers Bengali physicists Indian Space Research Organisation people 20th-century Indian engineers 21st-century Indian engineers 21st-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian women scientists Indian women physicists Indian space scientists 21st-century Indian women engineers Planetary scientists Women planetary scientists Women scientists from West Bengal 20th-century Indian women engineers