Meet Namishka, a passionate Honours Student of Earth and Planetary Sciences with a goal to be part of a Mars Mission!
Unlike many who dream of the stars from childhood, Namishka’s fascination with space began later in life. One day, while sitting in the canteen at college in India, she stumbled upon a live YouTube from an astronaut’s point of view, spacewalking and looking back at Earth. At that exact moment Namishka fell in love with the idea of space exploration and the possibility of becoming an astronaut one day! Her love for space now goes beyond mere curiosity; it embodies a profound sense of wonder and a belief in the boundless potential for discovery. Day by day this initial excitement deepened the more Namishka learnt.
After finishing her studies, Namishka took a gap year and decided to organise a space outreach camp, starting virtually, with five students from her area. She designed the syllabus herself, aiming to make learning about space fun and less stressful than traditional education. The following year, she organised an in-person camp at her school for 100 students from second to seventh grade. Namishka found joy in creating engaging worksheets for all ages, including activities like colouring and connecting dots to form constellations. She received recognition for her work and was invited to speak about her experience at a webinar in Indonesia (see the link in our bio). A big inspiration for her outreach work was Kristen Kirsten Banks, an astrophysicist and science communicator. Namishka had always been encapsulated by the way Kristen can explain space and make it fun whilst still being educational.
After completing her gap year and realising the significance of space in her life, Namishka set her sights on pursuing a Master’s degree in Planetary Sciences. She explored options available around the world, during which she realised the advancement of work happening in Australia. She became set on studying a planetary science course that is part of the Masters in Geology degree at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. However, after learning that research conducted at ANU did not match well with Namishka’s interest, she sought to gain a second opinion from a former ANU PhD student involved in Mars research, reaching out via LinkedIn. Surprisingly, the student happened to be a current Curtin professor and explained the incredible work Curtin was doing in this space. Although stumbling into Curtin University by chance, she couldn’t be happier with her selection, now having that professor as her co-supervisor.
Namishka is fascinated by Mars for its Earth-like features, potential for life and the mystery of ‘Where did all the water go?’. Her research focuses on finding ice buried just a few metres beneath the surface, which could be widespread and has implications for decoding Mars’ climate history, the potential to answer questions of Martian life and sustain humans in future missions. While she dreams of going to space, she is content contributing to human exploration from Earth and is considering pursuing a PhD that focuses on planetary geology and its role in space exploration.
”I just love what I study and it’s a truly fascinating kind of thing. The best part is, even when I’m doing literature reviews, being able to read information that I wouldn’t have otherwise come across in books is something that I’m grateful for.”
Namishka advises aspiring students, especially women in STEM, to reach out to professionals in the field for guidance and not to be afraid to seek mentorship. She is incredibly grateful for having done so herself and recognises how helpful people can be—you just need to ask! She also highlights that space is a growing industry, opening to everyone regardless of occupation. She has seen opportunities expand beyond traditional science and engineering roles to include collaborations between artists and scientists. The space sector is an exciting and evolving field, and Namishka is thrilled to be a part of it.
She thinks space should be of interest to everyone, not just because it’s completely fascinating and mesmerising but because it helps us see Earth in a new lens. Understanding how special and important Earth is makes us appreciate, Earth’s incredible characteristics which is rare to find in the universe that perhaps we would take for granted day by day, such as trees, water, our ecosystems and biodiversity. This awareness underscores the importance of caring for and sustaining our environment so that it can provide for and support generations to come.
Namishka is on a journey to contribute to space exploration, whether that is by teaching space literature, communicating science on social media, her research on Mars or by becoming an astronaut. Whatever way it may be, Namishka is determined in her lifetime to contribute to the space industry for humankind!
If this work excites you as well, why not head to Namishka’s science communication Instagram astro_cap_nemo to learn more!
