Amit Kshatriya of Indian origin has been working at NASA for 20 years. In his long career, he has held key positions at NASA, once again putting him in charge of one of its most ambitious programs. Since time immemorial, the direct sight of man could reach the sun and the moon, so mankind has a strange attraction towards these two. As technology developed in the 20th century and humans were able to reach space, the first focus was on the Moon.
A space race was going on between Russia and America as part of the Cold War. Between its stake in the skies before, Russia launched the Luna program and America undertook the Apollo missions. In this era of ascension, America finally made history by landing a man on the moon in 1969. From 1969 to 1972, the United States sent 12 men to the moon and opened new possibilities for space exploration.
Along with the moon, man’s eyes were also turned towards the mystery of the sun, but space technology was not advanced enough to contemplate a mission to the sun. As recently as 2018, NASA conducted a scientific study of the Sun by sending the Parker Solar Probe. While most researchers were focused on the Moon, an astronomer named Eugene Parker set out to understand the Sun in the 1950s-60s. Suriyaan, named after this great astronomer, will introduce mankind to many unexpected secrets of the Sun during its seven-year study.
After Moon-Sun, the most important planet that has become the center of attraction for space agencies is – Mars. On May 19, 1964, Mariner-4, launched by the American space research organization NASA, reached Mars on June 15, 1965 and began its operations. There had been a total of six failed attempts to reach Mars, five by Russia and one by NASA. Russia’s ambitious Mars-2 mission successfully landed on Mars, but it lost the honor of being the first man-made object to reach the Martian surface. It did not perform nearly as well as its contemporary NASA’s Mariner-9 due to dust and a poor atmosphere, but crashed on Mars and was labeled a failure. America-Russia started Mars mission. Apart from that China-India-European Space Agency, UAE has also succeeded in sending Mars rover. India is the only country in the world to reach Mars in its first attempt.
There are continuous explorations on the Moon and Mars. Ships are being dispatched. NASA is trying to send a rover to Mars. As part of that, NASA has announced to send a rover to the moon again. NASA scientists believe that reaching Mars directly is a difficult task. Instead, if the flight route from Earth to Moon and Moon to Mars is prepared, the chances of mission success increase. Because of this, NASA now wants to reach Mars from the Moon instead of advancing the Mars mission directly from Earth. For this, NASA has started the Moon to Mars program.
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NASA has selected Indian-origin software-robotics engineer Amit Kshatriya as the first head of its Moon to Mars program. Amit Kshatriya has a brilliant career in the space sector. He has been with NASA for the past 20 years and has held various key responsibilities. Now he will be responsible for the Moon to Mars program.
Indian-origin software-robotics engineer Amit Kshatriya joined NASA in 2003 as a software engineer. After that he got an opportunity to work on important missions in the field of robotics and software. He also played the role of head of the robotics assembly in the International Space Station. Served as Space Station Flight Director from 2014 to 2017. From 2017 to 2021, Amit Kshatriya was made Deputy Manager and then Acting Manager in the Vehicle Office of the International Space Station. Since 2021, he has been the Deputy Associate Administrator in the Exploration System Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters.
Robotics-software engineer Amit Kshatriya is now the independent head of NASA’s new program and will report directly to NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free. Amit Kshatriya’s job will be to explore the possibility of making the moon a launch pad to reach Mars in one way. Amit Kshatriya, who was given the responsibility of this program, has been included among the top officials of NASA. Amit Kshatriya will take on historic responsibility at NASA.
NASA President Bill Nelson praised Amit Kshatriya and said that Amit Kshatriya is an accomplished robotics-software engineer and has also proven management skills. Amit is entrusted with the responsibility of a very key program of NASA. This is a golden age for space science and this new NASA office will work hard for the Mars mission. Under this program hardware will be made, risk management analysis will be done. The responsibility of this office will be from ground system to space launch system.
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Amit Kshatriya was born in Brookfield, USA. His parents migrated to America from India. B.Sc from California Institute. Amit Kshatriya did his Post Graduation in Mathematics from the University of Texas. He has also received the prestigious Outstanding Leadership Award in NASA.
Many scientists, researchers, astronauts of Indian origin are active in NASA. Several are working in very strategic programs and are impressing NASA’s top brass with their expertise. Amit Kshatriya is one of them. 20 years of hard work has earned Amit Kshatriya a place in the panel of top NASA officials.
Amit Kshatriya, the head of the historic Moon to Mars program at NASA, once said about professionalism and career: “Complete the project given to you without any bias. When working, just work, don’t waste time on other activities, leave everything on holidays or vacations to give family time, enjoy yourself and come back to work refreshed – that’s it, no more rocket science needed for professional success!”
– Harit Munshi