Congratulatory messages poured in for teachers and relatives of Ritu Karidhal Srivastava in Lucknow.

As the nation celebrated the launch of Chandrayaan-2, people in Lucknow are over the moon revelling in mission director Ritu Karidhal Srivastava's connection to the city.

Congratulatory messages poured in for teachers, batchmates and relatives of Ritu Karidhal Srivastava in Lucknow.

"The entire department is feeling proud on the achievements of Ritu Karidhal, who did her MSc in Physics from this department in 1996," Poonam Tandon, head of the Physics department at the University of Lucknow, said.

"She was a very bright student and is certainly a role model for the current batch of students. The entire department is excited over her success and that of the ISRO. She is indeed a proud alumnus of the department," she said.

Ms Tandon said the department is chalking out a programme to felicitate the Chandrayaan-2 mission director.

In the state assembly on Tuesday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lauded ISRO scientists, specifically mentioning Ritu Karidhal Srivastava.

Meanwhile, a batchmate of hers recalled the ISRO scientist's days at the University of Lucknow. "She was a brilliant student and had a good command over the subject," said Vikal Saxena, who teaches Physics at a private university in the city.

"In fact, on couple of occasions she cleared my doubts as well," he said, recalling that she helped all students and was also popular with those from the junior batches.

Ritu Karidhal's cousin Ajay Srivastava shared the sentiment. "She is very polite by nature and used to encourage her siblings in every aspect of life. She guided us. Be it her educational qualifications or behavioural attributes, she is very good," he said.

India's moon mission Chandrayaan 2 lifted off from its launch pad at Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota at 2:43 pm on Monday on board a giant heavy-lift rocket. India's space scientists had a narrow one-minute window for their second attempt at launching the moon mission, a week after the mission was aborted 56 minutes before lift-off.

The success of Chandrayaan 2 mission will make India the fourth country after the US, Russia and China to pull off a soft landing on the moon.