Who is Amit Kshatriya, Indian-American NASA official behind Artemis II Moon mission?

As NASA's Associate Administrator, Kshatriya serves as the highest-ranking civil servant at the agency and as a senior advisor to Administrator Jared Isaacman.

Washington: From admiring rocket launches as a child growing up in Houston to steering the operations at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Indian-American scientist Amit Kshatriya has had a stellar innings at the space agency that has set on a mission to land astronauts on the moon.

As NASA's Associate Administrator, Wisconsin-born Kshatriya serves as the highest-ranking civil servant at the agency and as a senior advisor to Administrator Jared Isaacman.

Kshatriya leads the agency's 10 centre directors, as well as the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA Headquarters in Washington. He also acts as the agency's Chief Operating Officer.

Born to first-generation Indian immigrant parents, Kshatriya holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, and a Master of Arts in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin.

He was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, but considers Katy, a suburb of Houston, Texas, to be his hometown.

Kshatriya's interest in space took root as he watched space launches in Houston, which is home to NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Centre.

After dabbling in the oil and gas industry and the medical sector after graduation, he joined United Space Alliance, NASA's primary contractor for the space shuttle program, in 2003.

Kshatriya has worked as a software engineer, robotics engineer, and spacecraft operator, primarily focused on the robotic assembly of the International Space Station.

From 2014 to 2017, he served as a space station flight director, where he led global teams in the operations and execution of the space station during all phases of flight.

From 2017 to 2021, he became deputy and then acting manager of the ISS Vehicle Office, where he was responsible for sustaining engineering, logistics, and hardware program management.

In 2021, Kshatriya was assigned to NASA Headquarters as an assistant deputy associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), where he was an integral part of the team that returned a spacecraft designed to carry humans to the Moon during the Artemis I mission.

Kshatriya served as the Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars programme as NASA plans to set up a long-term presence on the lunar surface to launch future interplanetary missions.

Kshatriya was named as NASA's Associate Administrator in September last year.

He was awarded the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for actions as the lead flight director for the 50th expedition to the space station.

Kshatriya is also the recipient of a Silver Snoopy, an award astronauts bestow for outstanding performance contributing to flight safety, for his actions as lead robotics officer for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Dragon demonstration mission to the orbiting laboratory, according to the space agency's website.