Jahnavi, who is 19 years old, has today become the first and only Indian to participate in the International Air and Space Program at NASA Launch Operations’ Kennedy Space Center in Alabama, United States.
Jahnavi is a second-year engineering student from Palakollu, in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. She was one of 20 students from around the world who were picked by the International Association of Science and Technology (IASP).
A comprehensive astronaut training programme was undertaken at the Kennedy Space Center, and activities such as zero gravity training, multi-access training, and an underwater rocket launch were all part of the program’s scope. She also had the opportunity to take to the skies for the first time on a commercial aircraft.
A group of 16 persons from various countries were assigned to her as the mission director for the “Team Kennedy” project, and she was in charge of them. The team, under her direction, successfully launched and landed a small rocket on the target.
In an interview with TOI, Jahnavi, who is also a record holder in the Indian Book of Records for being a multi-talented girl, said that she aspires to be one of the first Indians to visit Mars. Jahnavi is also a member of the Indian Book of Records for being the world’s most talented girl.
Additionally, she has stated that she was able to participate in the IASP programme because she was offered a scholarship for the programme by a Mexican corporation. Besides that, she has received training in open water scuba diving in a variety of locations and is an internationally certified open water scuba diver.
She went on to say, “Participating in numerous initiatives, workshops, and hackathons is helping me to achieve my goal faster, and I am grateful for every chance. I’ve been working really hard lately, analysing photos captured by the Pan-STARRS satellite in search of previously undiscovered asteroids. Our team made 16 preliminary discoveries and one provisional discovery during their investigation.”
An Andhra girl has become the first Indian to receive space training at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
