Amit Kshatriya, an Indian-origin engineer, will lead NASA’s Moon-to-Mars Program

Amit Kshatriya will be in charge of programme planning and execution for human missions to the Moon and Mars.

As the first director of NASA’s newly established Moon to Mars Programme, Amit Kshatriya, an accomplished Indian-American software and robotics engineer, will assist the agency in ensuring a long-term lunar presence necessary to get ready for humanity’s next great leap to the Red Planet.According to a statement released by NASA on Thursday, Kshatriya will take over as the organisation’s first head of office immediately.

According to a NASA press release, the new office aims to carry out the organisation’s human exploration activities on the Moon and Mars for the benefit of humanity.According to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, “the golden age of exploration is now, and this new office will help ensure that NASA successfully establishes a long-term lunar presence needed to prepare for humanity’s next great leap to the Red Planet.”

Read Also:- Punjab police search deras while searching for Amritpal Singh and his assistant Papalpreet Singh.

Nelson said, “The Moon to Mars Programme Office will aid NASA in preparing to carry out our audacious missions to the Moon and land the first humans on Mars.According to the statement, the new office is part of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate and reports to Jim Free, the directorate’s associate administrator.

The Moon to Mars Programme Office focuses on hardware development, mission integration, and risk management tasks for programmes critical to the agency’s exploration approach, which uses Artemis missions at the Moon to usher in a new era of scientific discovery and get ready for manned missions to Mars, as instructed by the 2022 NASA Authorisation Act, according to a press release.

This covers the Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft, auxiliary ground systems, spacesuits, and other deep space exploration-related items.According to the statement, the new office will also oversee long-term planning and analysis to support human missions to Mars.

Amit Kshatriya new position entails planning and carrying out the programme for manned missions to the Moon and Mars.According to the statement, Kshatriya oversaw the Space Launch System, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems programmes as well as related Artemis Campaign Development Division initiatives connecting the agency’s Moon to Mars objectives. Kshatriya also provided leadership and integration for these programmes.

Amit Kshatriya had previously held the position of Common Exploration Systems Development Division acting deputy associate administrator.

As a software engineer, robotics engineer, and spacecraft operator, Amit Kshatriya started his career in the space programme in 2003. He primarily worked on the robotic assembly of the International Space Station.He worked as a space station flight director from 2014 to 2017, leading international teams in the management and execution of the space station throughout all phases of flight.

He was given a job at NASA Headquarters in 2021 as an assistant deputy associate administrator in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, where he played a crucial role in the team that brought back a spacecraft intended to take people to the Moon during the Artemis I mission.Amit Kshatriya , a first-generation immigrant from India to the US, has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, as well as a Master of Arts in Mathematics from The University of Texas at Austin.

Although Kshatriya was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, he now calls Katy, Texas, home.

He received the Silver Snoopy, an honour given by astronauts for exceptional performance enhancing flight safety, for his actions as the lead robotics officer for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Dragon demonstration mission to the orbiting laboratory, as well as the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for his actions as the lead flight director for the 50th expedition to the space station, according to the press release.