A saree worn by Indian space scientist Nandini Harinath during India’s historic Mars Orbiter Mission has gone on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Harinath wore the red and blue saree on November 30, 2013, when the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Mission successfully performed its critical trans Mars injection maneuver, sending the spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit on its nearly 300 day journey to Mars. The garment now features in the museum’s “Futures in Space” gallery, which examines who participates in space exploration and why such missions matter.
The Smithsonian has hailed Harinath as one of India’s “Rocket Women,” noting her key role as deputy operations director and mission designer on Mangalyaan, a mission that made India the first Asian nation to reach Mars orbit and the first country to do so on its maiden attempt.
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