The Indian touch behind Artemis: Meet Amit Kshatriya, a key man in NASA’s Moon Mission

Washington: The Indian-origin boy who once watched rockets soaring from Houston in awe is now at the helm of NASA’s most critical missions. Amit Kshatriya serves as NASA’s Associate Administrator and is a senior advisor to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

He also functions as the agency's Chief Operating Officer, based at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Kshatriya’s parents emigrated from India to the US. Born at Brookfield in Wisconsin, he grew up at Houston in Texas, which is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Centre. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and a Master’s in the same subject from the University of Texas, he worked in the petroleum and medical sectors.

His journey with NASA began in 2008 when he joined United Space Alliance, a primary NASA contractor. He later worked extensively with the International Space Station. In 2021, he became the Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters and was an integral part of the Artemis-1 mission. He was appointed Associate Administrator in September last year.

Man last set foot on the moon in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission. NASA’s current goal is to achieve this again by 2028.

“The path to the Moon has been opened. But the work ahead is greater than the work that has been done,” Kshatriya stated during a press conference following the return of the Artemis 2 mission components.

He has been awarded NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal. In addition, astronauts honoured him with the "Silver Snoopy" award for his contributions to ensuring safe spaceflight.