Nitya is an aspiring science astronaut whose major research interest is Planetary Science and Astrobiology. Her research interest is to identify what are the physical environment is essential to engender the life.
"I am an introvert, and this aspect of my personality has become my strength, bringing me closer to nature. I love to stay alone, thinking about nature, science, and space.
I have always looked at life as an opportunity to do something extraordinary. I want to spread the beauty of science and space to the heart and mind of people all around the world. I want to establish a free access space science education center in my region to increase public awareness and support for space and STEM."
What inspires you?
When I was eight, I told my grandmother: “Grandma! Just look at that moon, one day I will go there" while I was laying down on a cot in the courtyard. It was February 1st, 2005, the second anniversary of the death of Dr. Kalpana Chawla, the first Indo-American astronaut who perished in the Columbia disaster of 2003. When myclass teacher, Mrs. Chabila Sethiya, had just told us about her life and career, I went straight to my father and asked him about space and related fields. He told me about Neil Armstrong, the moon landing, NASA, ISRO, and ESA, and showed me pictures of astronauts and rockets. Beyond the blue sky, my father told me, there is another captivating world and astronauts are the explorers of that mysterious space. That day was a turning point in my life and since then my mind got fully engross by space. Even while sleeping at night, I used to picture myself in a spacesuit, sitting inside the Space Shuttle headed to touch the infinite sky. These experiences, fostered by my father, kept my fascination for astronomy and space persistent throughout my development.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
At the age of eight, I had decided that the ambition of my life was to become an astronaut. My dream is to be the first Indian woman on the Moon. I committed myself to dedicate my whole life to space, and every day I am moving towards my dreams.
Which subjects did you enjoy at school?
Science and mathematics are always been my favorites subjects. While my other classmates liked to play in leisure time, I preferred to sit alone and think about my surroundings, wondering about the origin of nature, why plants are green, When I was eight, I told my grandmother: “Grandma! Just look at that moon, one day I will go there" while I was laying down on a cot in the courtyard. It was February 1st, 2005, the second anniversary of the death of Dr. Kalpana Chawla, the first Indo-American astronaut who perished in the Columbia disaster of 2003. When myclass teacher, Mrs. Chabila Sethiya, had just told us about her life and career, I went straight to my father and asked him about space and related fields. He told me about Neil Armstrong, the moon landing, NASA, ISRO, and ESA, and showed me pictures of astronauts and rockets. Beyond the blue sky, my father told me, there is another captivating world and astronauts are the explorers of that mysterious space. That day was a turning point in my life and since then my mind got fully engross by space. Even while sleeping at night, I used to picture myself in a spacesuit, sitting inside the Space Shuttle headed to touch the infinite sky. These experiences, fostered by my father, kept my fascination for astronomy and space persistent throughout my development. How gravity works, how the Moon floats in the sky without falling. During my higher secondary schooling, I got interested in physics thanks to my respected teacher Mr. Manish Tiwari sir.
What would you like to tell your younger self?
I always tell my younger self to have ambition in life, because without a goal, we don't know where we are going. When you realize what your ambition is, it is essential to work to chase those dreams. Great things require determination and hard work to accomplish.
Why did you choose STEM?
Because of my dreams! I have always been very clear about my ambition, and I realized very soon that the only way to move towards my dream is to engage in STEM.
How important is it for you to stand out?
I want to bring myself to a position where I can help humanity to achieve the dream to explore and colonize space. I want to establish a space education center in my region, where I can provide free space education. Meanwhile, I want to develop myself as a public figure to touch the heart mind of people and allow them to engage with me without any hesitation or fear. While engaging with people, especially with children, I want to be able to establish a friendly relation, creating safe space where teachers and a students can interact freely. Meanwhile I want to help strengthen the reputation of India in the space industry. This is one of the things that makes me want to work harder.
What difficulties did you face in the industry, as a woman?
While I haven’t felt any kind of difficulty as a woman in this field so far, I can see that many people in my surroundings still believe that a woman should not choose a job that requires things like traveling alone and fieldwork. Many believe that it is not safe for a woman to travel alone. Did we ever stop to consider who is responsible for this unsafe environment for a woman? The answer is "Us, and only us". A child learns everything from its surrounding, and it is our responsibility to teach our children better values and manners. If parents are practicing gender inequality, if they are not teaching their kids to respect women, they will grow up with the same mentality and they will pass it along to the next generation.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female scientists?
Be your own pole star and don't let anyone decide your destiny. Nature is like a beautiful garden in need of a caring gardener. Women are the kindest creation of God ever, so it is up to us to explore and preserve nature.
"In summer 2017, I was granted a Summer Research Fellowship from the Indian Academy of Sciences. I spent my summer at the Indian Institute of Science, India, working with microscopes. The goal of this project was to attain a super-resolved image to break down the physical limitation applied by diffraction limit theory. With a grid pattern sample illumination technique, we took nine images of the sample from three different angles and in three different positions. We then combined and reconstruct these images in MATLAB to obtain a super-resolved image. In 2018 I got a chance to compete in the professional training schooAspiring science astronaut whose major research interest is Planetary Science and Astrobiology. My research interest is to identify what are th
e physical environment is essential to engender the life.l for astronomers at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital, India. The lectures, combined with hands-on practice sessions, were given by renowned scientists. We worked with the 3.6m Devasthal's Fast Optical Telescope, the largest reflecting telescope in Asia, and we learned astronomical techniques like data reduction and analysis of raw CCD images, astrometry, photometry, spectrometry, and polarimetry of various stellar objects and we received training in the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) software package. In my post-graduation dissertation, titled "Photometric Study of Narrow Lines Seyfert1 Galaxy”, I worked on observations of Narrow Lines Seyfert1 galaxy (NLS1) J073106+392644.7 in time series mode, which was carried out using 1.3m Fast Optical Telescope at the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital (India). Raw CCD images were reduced using the Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) software package. Aperture photometry was performed to extract the instrumental magnitude with the help of the Daophote software package.
I was curious about exploring the variation in the brightness of the object, so I used differential photometry, exploring possible variation in the brightness with respect to two non-varying objects. In 2019, I got selected for the nine weeks interdisciplinary Space Studies Program (SSP) of the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France. At ISU I participated to the activities of the space engineering department, fulfilling my dream to get the hands-on experience under the oversight of world's leading professionals. The lectures and hands-on practice sessions included soldering and testing, space and ground-based sensors, building and testing CubeSats, construct and launch of model rockets, building and programming wheeled robots and are-entry and descent of lander workshops. I was involved in the team project Fast Transit: Mars and Beyond sponsored by NASA and UAE Space Agency, under the supervision of Dr. Geoff Steeves, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Victoria and Jaroslaw Jaworski, Operations Manager at Made in Space Europe. The goal was to investigate a method for crewed transit using continuous acceleration to reduce the mission duration from eighteen months to a few weeks to minimize crew exposure to radiation and microgravity. Project sub-teams were identified to handle mission feasibility and hazards, mission profile and orbits, aspects of business and law, spacecraft design, human performance in space, and humanities. The Team Project (TP) reviewed and evaluated a wide range of propulsion technologies, and defined a mission scenario to demonstrate how this technology could be applied to a fast transit to Mars."
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