Mangla Mani was the only woman in 23-member expedition team that went to India’s research station, Bharati. The has team returned from their expedition recently.
At Bharati, she used to operate and maintain the ground station where 10 of 14 orbits would be visible. She then collected the satellite data and sent it to India for processing and distribution to users. She told TOI:
The Antarctica mission was really a challenge. The climate there was very harsh. One had to wear polar clothing. Even 2 or 3 hours out in the severe cold was too much and one had to come back immediately for warm-up.
Interestingly enough, Mangla Mani had never seen snowfall before.On Mangala Mani’s nature of job at Antarctica, her boss, Dr Y V N Krishnamurthy, the director of Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), told TOI, “Mangala and her team where supposed to operate and maintain the Indian research station and collect loads of satellite data as we have polar-orbiting satellites.
Unlike Hyderabad, where only two or three orbits are visible, Antarctica (south pole) is the place from where one can observe 14 orbits. The loads of space data are downloaded at the Antarctica station and sent to the Hyderabad centre via the communication satellite link for processing and distribution to users.”
But she had to go through a tough training along with her team members in order to get selected for the expedition. After some medical tests, she was sent to Auli in Uttarakhand, at 9,000 feet altitude and later to Badrinath at 10,000 feet to get accustomed to the snow. Mani, along with her team, were also required to go on long treks carrying a heavy backpack which tested their physical endurance.
Not only was she the only woman in the Indian group, Mangla Mani was also the only female in the entire zone as the Chinese and Russian earth stations also didn’t have any woman during 2016-17.
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