Screening of the movie ‘Space MOMs’

India Post News Service

CHICAGO: As part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav events, the Indian Consulate supported the screening of the movie ‘Space MOMs’ organized by the US-India Friendship Council on Saturday, 30th April at Yellow Box in Naperville.

‘Space MOMs’ is based on the inspirational story of the women engineers behind India’s 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM).

Indian Consul General A Kumarin in his opening remarks thanked India-US Friendship Council and acknowledged the presence of Director Ms Radha Bharadwaj. CG briefly spoke about India’s 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission, which was a major milestone in our space journey. India was the first country to launch a successful Mars Orbiter Mission in its first attempt. India’s space agency ISRO deployed several innovative measures to contain the cost of this mission. To put this in perspective, the making of the Hollywood movie Gravity cost more than India’s Mars mission.

CG mentioned that ISRO has been pioneering big breakthroughs in satellite design, operations and use as well as in launch vehicles. What is however not known is the contribution of Indian women scientists in the success of our space agency, battling prejudices, stereotypes and breaking glass ceilings. He thanked Director Bharadwaj for her seminal contribution in documenting the story of Indian women space scientists. He expressed hope that the film will also inspire girls, who wish to pursue career in STEM fields.

Filmmaker Radha Bharadwaj in her remarks said “The audience response was what I had envisioned when I conceived of this film: they were finally seeing depictions of them and their country that filled them with pride.”