Produced by: Bhoomika Aggarwal Designed by: Manoj Kumar
Dr. Akshata Krishnamurthy not only fulfilled her childhood dream of working in NASA but also became the first Indian citizen to operate a rover on Mars. Know all about this MIT alumnae, who secured a full-time job at NASA while living in the US on student visa
Akshata Krishnamurthy arrived in the US, 11 years ago with a dream to work with one of the prestigious space agencies in the world, NASA. She earned a PhD degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a prestigious technology and science university
Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy went on to submit countless applications to several places before getting a dream role at NASA. She worked on several NASA-led space projects before becoming a part of the Mars research team
Akshata was selected along with other researchers to work on the Perseverance rover, involved in collecting samples from Mars for eventual return to Earth. She shared her journey on her Instagram account, @astro.akshata
• Got into MIT - 3% success rate • Worked on two space missions • Discovered exoplanets • Authored journal papers in nature • Got 10+ international awards • Established research collaboration with NASA JOL • Graduated with PhD in space systems
• Got full-time job at NASA JPL on student visa • Got export license to work on space hardware projects • Robotics Operations Systems Engineer on Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover • Science Phase Lead on NISAR Mission From MIT to NASA, Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy shared these 11 things she did to build a career in space
Akshata just has one mantra for success, "No dream is ever too big or crazy. Believe in yourself, keep those blinkers on and keep working! I promise, you’ll get there if you work hard."
Dr Akshata Krishnamurthy has also penned the e-book, 'Your Ultimate Guide to a Space Career', which has been described as a step-by-step guide to planning and building a successful career in space
Rocket scientist Akshata shares updates from her professional life and space-related updates on her Instagram account which currently has more than 31k followers. She even shared a video from inside NASA