Indian-origin engineer to head NASA's new Moon to Mars programme
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Washington: NASA's newly-established Moon to Mars Programme is headed by Amit Kshatriya, an Indian-American robotics engineer. The programme is focused on establishing a long-term presence on the Moon which is going to be crucial for future Mars missions. Scientists are keen on using the Moon as a stop-in-between.
Amit will be serving as NASA's first head of the office and will immediately assume his new role. He will also be overseeing the US space agency's human exploration activities on the Moon and Mars. He is now in charge of planning and executing human missions to both the Moon and Mars.
The robotic expert earlier served as the director of the Space Launch System, Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems programs. He was also involved in Artemis Campaign Development Division initiatives. He held the post of acting deputy associate administrator for the Common Exploration Systems Development Division.
He has been working on space programmes since 2003 as a software engineer, robotics engineer, and spacecraft operator.
The new Moon to Mars Programme Office is created to assist NASA in landing humans on Mars as well as carrying out exploration missions on the Moon. It is tasked with critical hardware development, mission integration, and risk management functions.