Since childhood, Akshata Krishnamurthy was fascinated by what lies beyond our planet, which led to her pursuing a career in aerospace.

Hailing from Bengaluru, she pursued mechanical engineering, after which, she went to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign for a masters in aerospace engineering.

Getting an aerospace job in the US without citizenship or a green card is challenging. First, Akshata decided to pursue a PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“I came here alone and didn’t have any support. I kept doing research projects and publishing papers to add to my credentials to show that I can create an impact. Every opportunity I got was never luck or coincidence, it was through hard work,” the engineer shares.

While pursuing her masters, Akshata started writing to professors at MIT that she wanted to work with them for her PhD. It was only on her third attempt that she was selected.

Through 15 years of dogged determination and hard work, she became a Principal Investigator and Space Systems Engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), contributing to two space missions.

She is the mission science phase lead on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission (NISAR) and robotics systems engineer on the MARS 2020 Perseverance rover, operating the rover on Mars.

“I was adamant about getting into NASA and doing whatever it took to reach that goal. There was no plan B. I decided to bet on myself. Failure was not an option, but even so, everytime I failed, I took the learnings from it, and did something different to proceed further,” Akshata says.

Here are her five tips to pursue a career in space:

1. Be curious

“Start by asking questions about everything you see, participate in science projects in school, understand how things work and read about the latest news in the space industry,” she advises.

She also suggests taking up research projects and internships to get hands-on experience and understand how the industry works.

2. Build a strong foundation

Try to find areas you’re passionate about. “Even in space, there are different areas one can work on, like astrophysics, astronomy, technology, engineering and more. Figure out which field of space engineering interests you,” Akshata adds.

3. Pursue advanced degrees

Once you’ve zeroed in on your interests, do a bachelors in science/engineering, masters and a PhD to equip yourself.

4. Develop technical/hands-on skills

Develop new skills like AI and Machine Learning (ML). “Learn these softwares. Master coding skills or do a robotics project as these are going to be used in space technologies being developed,” she mentions.

Complete research projects in well-known institutes and develop expertise in your chosen field.

5. Network, Network, Network

Try to build a professional network as early as possible by attending conferences, workshops, professional seminars and talks.

“You can ask questions to people who’ve achieved what you want to,” says Akshata.