‘Moon Here I Come’: Uttarakhand Scientist Chosen for NASA’s Artemis 1 Mission

Indian-origin scientist Amit Pandey has been appointed as a senior scientist at NASA’s New Moon Program Artemis I. The programme aims at astronauts’ long-term settlement on the moon. The rocket is set to launch on 29 August. 

“In the 60s, America launched the Apollo programme, through which astronaut Neil Armstrong step foot on the moon. Similarly, NASA is now launching a long-term Moon Program, so astronauts can live and do research on the moon,” said Amit in an interview with ETV Bharat.

He works with Lockheed Martin, one of NASA’s contractors contributing to the mission. Other contractors include Aerojet Rocketdyne, Boeing, Jacobs, and Northrop Grumman.

Artemis I will be the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Deep Space Exploration Systems – Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, with the Exploration Ground Systems in Florida. While Orion will orbit around the moon, SLS will hold 10 satellites which will perform research. Artemis I is the first step in a series of missions that will inquire about the potential of human existence on the moon.

‘Moon, here I come’

Born and raised in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, Amit’s father Bipin Chandra Pandey is a retired teacher at Mahatma Gandhi Inter College and his mother Sushila Pandey is a homemaker. 

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After completing his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya Haldwani and class 12 from Kendriya Vidyalaya Rae Bareli, he went on to do a B Tech from IIT BHU (Banaras Hindu University). 

After this, he moved to America for a Master’s from the University of Arizona and then earned a PhD from the University of Maryland. He’s worked as a research scientist in America for several years.

But outside of his job at NASA, he also manages an online platform called The Careerpedia where he offers free career guidance counselling to students. Through the YouTube channel, he shares advice about studies and immigration, dos and don’ts when pursuing a certain degree or career, information about job opportunities, managing work and life, and more.

Sources:

Uttarakhand Youth Amit Pandey Joins NASA Artemis Project | New Moon Program | America | NASA Project by ETV Bharat, 17 August 2022

Dehradun Diary: Uttarakhand scientist part of NASA Moon program by Narendra Sethi, The New Indian Express, 18 August 2022

Achievement: चंद्रमा पर अमिट छाप छोड़ेगा उत्तराखंड का लाल, नासा के न्यू मून प्रोग्राम आर्टेमिस का बने हिस्सा by रेनू सकलानी, Amar Ujala, 17 August 2022

NASA में चन्द्रमा पर घर बनाने के प्रोजेक्ट का हिस्सा बने हल्द्वानी के अमित पांडे by Skand Shukla, Jagran, 16 August 2022

Artemis I Overview, nasa.gov

Meet Subashini Iyer, the woman leading the team behind the world’s most powerful rocket by Team StoryWeavers, Byju’s, 5 July 2021

Edited by Yoshita Rao

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