Women and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles usually don't go together. But, breaking the glass ceiling in a typical male bastion, a woman scientist will now head a key missile project of the country. Tessy Thomas, 45, will now be the project director for the new advanced version of the 2,500-km range Agni-II missile. The promotion comes soon after she played a crucial role in the successful firing of the 3,500-km range Agni-III missile last week as associate project director. "I like my job. I feel I am contributing to my nation's security,' said Thomas, one of the around 200 women scientists and technicians working for the Defence Research and Development Organisation. Asked about the new Agni-II version being planned, Thomas, who was on Monday honoured along with the entire Agni-III team by the prime minister, only said, "It's still a confidential project. It will be called Agni-II-A2.' Thomas's son, incidentally, is named Tejas like the Light Combat Aircraft programme being run by DRDO. He, however, was named Tejas much earlier than the LCA project came to be known by that name. A BTech from Thrissur Engineering College, Kozhikode, and an MTech from Pune, Thomas is an expert on "solid system propellants', which fuel the Agni missiles. And she was not alone in the Agni-III project. There were 20 other women scientists who worked with her to make the test of the 3,500-km missile a resounding success on May 7.