Akshata Krishnamurthy’s fascination with space began at an early age when she wondered what lay beyond our planet. His curiosity was fueled by weekly visits to the planetarium and air shows in Bangalore.
It was no wonder that this young girl wanted to pursue a career in aerospace. But he had to walk the path of how, where and what to do to fulfill this dream.
With incredible talent and a dogged pursuit of her goals, she became a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which was a big deal for a student from a middle-class family who studied at a state board school.
Today, this formidable woman works as an aerospace engineer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
And his journey was not easy.
It took him about 15 years to step into NASA as a full-time employee, overcoming the various hurdles of getting an education abroad. But this 35-year-old is making it easier for others by sharing her experiences and giving advice on social media. Here is his story.
In search of the universe
Akshata works at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as principal investigator and space systems engineer on two space missions. He is the Mission Science Phase Lead on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission (NISAR) and the Robotics Systems Engineer on the MARS 2020 Perseverance Rover, operating the rover on Mars.
This lifelong endeavor with space took root from the 2003 Bangalore Air Show. It was the Aero India Show at Yelahanka Air Force Base that probably started it all. The aerobatic maneuvers of the Sukhoi Su-30 pilots captivated the youth.
“I was always interested in science and mathematics and wanted to know more about the origin of our universe. Where we came from, and what’s in the sky. I also wanted to travel and explore but we didn’t have the resources for that,” says Akshata. Uttam India.
She fueled her curiosity through any source she had access to, such as visiting local factories in her native Karnataka village or visiting planetariums.
Calling herself an ‘investigator’, Akshata enjoys understanding the whys and wherefores of everything she observes. This reasoning helped him later in engineering.
A major turning point in his life was reading about the Hubble Space Telescope which ignited his passion for aerospace.
“In the early 2000s, seeing astronauts doing spacewalks in the service of the Hubble telescope was a great inspiration. It made me dream of seeing the Earth from the vast reaches of space and experiencing what they experienced,” shares the rocket scientist.
Forging your own path
“I wanted to be an astronaut and that was a clear goal in my mind,” recalls Akshata. In the 90s he knew Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams. While Sharma was in the Indian Air Force, the other two were American citizens.
“Back then, India didn’t have a manned space program. You either became an astronaut with Russia or an astronaut with the US space program. There were no Indians in the program who were not US citizens then,” adds Akshata.
She soon discovered that a large percentage of astronauts had actually studied at MIT. “Since then, I knew I had to study at MIT because I thought it would give me a better chance to go into space. MIT has actually sent 44 astronauts into space and most of them got their PhDs here,” she adds.
This gave the young schoolgirl a clear path to focus on.
She then went on to become the only female student in Bangalore’s RV College of Engineering, graduating in 2010 in the Mechanical Engineering stream.
After this, she commuted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to pursue a master’s degree in aerospace engineering.
The real challenge before Akshata is getting an aerospace job in the US without citizenship or a green card. To be accepted as a doctoral candidate at MIT, she needed some work experience, she learned.
“I came here alone and had no support. I continued to publish research projects and papers to add to my credentials to show that I could create impact. Every opportunity I got was never luck or coincidence, it was through hard work,” said the engineer.
While pursuing her master’s degree, she began writing to professors at MIT about wanting to work with them for her Ph.D. It was only his third attempt to get selected.
“I honed my skills and worked outside of my curriculum but was still on the waitlist because not all space projects can take foreign nationals because they are funded by the US government and there are restrictions. But when I got on the waitlist the second time, I told all the professors at MIT I wrote to them for a chance to work for a year. Finally, I heard from Professor Sarah Seeger that there was a project I could work on,” she adds.
Professor Seeger is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT who focuses on exoplanet research, which is the search for new planets. He offered her a temporary research assistant position for a year.
At that time, Akshata had two options – take a well-paying job at Google or Amazon without worrying about her visa or career, or take a risk and work on a new research project that was incredibly exciting.
It was useless.
After a year working in exoplanet research, she reapplied to the MIT PhD program, and as they say, third time’s a charm. Under Professor Seeger, and in a fully funded program, he finally received his PhD in 2020.
“My doctorate is in aeronautics and astronautics But I worked at the frontier of science and engineering, focusing on developing space telescopes and technologies to discover new planets,” she explains.
She went on to work full-time at NASA JPL, which, she shares, was also a serendipitous event.
“I worked there as an intern for three months and every day I would ask for a job with the managers. But no one can do anything to me without a green card as there is a lot of paperwork and complexity involved,” she says.
The last day of her internship arrived but she still had no job offer or interview. Fortunately, it was a presentation for the day. A hiring manager in the audience was impressed by Akshata’s performance and decided to hire her.
Even then, until the paperwork arrived, the scientist recalls that she couldn’t breathe easy.
When she joined NASA JPL as an employee in February 2020, it was the happiest day of her life.
Akshata’s story is certainly inspiring, we ask, what keeps her going?
“I was determined to get into NASA and do whatever it took to reach that goal. There was no plan B. I decided to bet on myself. Failure was not an option, however, every time I failed, I learned from it and moved forward. I have done something different to grow,’ she says.
Realizing that thousands of students in India needed proper guidance, she opened channels on Instagram and YouTube.
Here are his 5 tips for building a career in space:
- Be curious.
“Start by asking questions about everything you see, participate in science projects at school, understand how things work and read the latest news in the space industry,” she advises.
“Do research projects, do internships, get experience and understand how the industry works,” she adds.
- Build a strong foundation.
Try to find areas that you like. “Even in space, there are different fields you can work in, such as astrophysics, astronomy, technology, engineering and more. Find out which area of space interests you,” she adds.
- Pursue advanced degrees.
Once you have zeroed in on your interests, do a Bachelors, Masters and PhD in Science/Engineering to equip yourself.
- Develop technical/hands on skills.
Given how important AI and machine learning (ML) have become today, developing these skills is crucial, says Akshata. “Master coding skills or project robotics as these will be used in developing space technologies,” he noted.
Complete research projects at reputed institutes and develop expertise in areas of interest.
- Network, network, network.
Try to build a professional network as soon as possible by attending conferences, workshops, professional seminars and talks.
“If there are any talks at observatories or research institutes, make sure to attend them. You can ask questions of people who have achieved what you want. You can find a mentor or it will at least help you chart your path,” she says.
Editing by Padmashri Pandey, Images courtesy Akshata Krishnamurthy.