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{{Short description|Aerospace engineer and researcher}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Akshata Krishnamurthy
| image = DrAkshataKrishnamurthy-1.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1990|12|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bengaluru]], [[Karnataka]], [[India]]
| citizenship = [[India]]n
| alma_mater = [[R.V. College of Engineering]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]]) [[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign]] ([[Master of Science|MS]]) [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] ([[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| occupation = {{infobox engineering career
| discipline = [[Space Systems]]
| employer = [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory|NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
| significant_projects = [[Mars 2020]] [[NISAR]] [[TESS]] [[ASTERIA (spacecraft)|ASTERIA]]
| significant_awards = [[Luigi G. Napolitano Award]] [[International Astronautical Federation|IAF Emerging Space Leader]]
}}
}}
'''Akshata Krishnamurthy''' (born 27 December 1990) is an Indian space systems engineer working as Principal Investigator and Science Phase Lead at the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory|NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Power lists like Fortune India MPW help shun self-doubt: NASA's Krishnamurthy |first=Manoj |last=Sharma |date=2 August 2024 |url=https://www.fortuneindia.com/multimedia/power-lists-like-fortune-india-mpw-help-shun-self-doubt-nasas-krishnamurthy/117897 |publisher=Fortune India |access-date=14 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=NASA JPL NISAR Project Team|url=https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/team/project-team/|publisher=NASA JPL|access-date=14 November 2024|archive-date=1 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241101131041/https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/team/project-team/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

She is currently working on [[Mars 2020]].<ref name=":0" /> She was named to [[Fortune India 500|Fortune India's]] "Most Powerful Women"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=-Manoj |title=Akshata Krishnamurthy - Most Powerful Women in 2024 - Fortune India |url=https://www.fortuneindia.com/mpw/akshata-krishnamurthy?year=2024 |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.fortuneindia.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Education ==
Krishnamurthy was born on 27 December 1990 in [[Bangalore|Bengaluru]], [[Karnataka]], India. She completed her schooling and undergraduate education at [[R.V. College of Engineering]] before moving to the [[United States]] to pursue a [[Master's degree]] in [[Aerospace Engineering]] from the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]].<ref>{{cite thesis |title=Development and characterization of an inertial electrostatic confinement thruster |degree=M.S. |year=2012 |last1=Krishnamurthy |first1=Akshata |url=https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/items/42102|publisher=[[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|UIUC]] |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>

Krishnamurthy earned her PhD in [[Aerospace|Aeronautics and Astronautics]] from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT).<ref>{{cite thesis |title=Instrument systematics calibration and performance validation for high precision photometry missions |year=2020 |degree=Ph.D. |url=https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/128056|publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] |hdl=1721.1/128056 |access-date=21 December 2023|type=Thesis |last1=Krishnamurthy |first1=Akshata }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Thesis Defense Presented by Akshata Krishnamurthy |url=https://space.mit.edu/events/thesis-defense-presented-by-akshata-krishnamurthy-january-6-2020/|publisher=MIT |date=6 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926220713/https://www.space.mit.edu/events/thesis-defense-presented-by-akshata-krishnamurthy-january-6-2020/ |archive-date=26 September 2020 }}</ref> Her PhD research focused on instrument calibration and performance improvement for space-based telescope missions for exoplanet detection. The results of her research contributed to the [[Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite]] (TESS) and [[ASTERIA (spacecraft)|Arcsecond Space Telescope Enabling Research in Astrophysics]] (ASTERIA) missions. Krishnamurthy and her colleagues contributed to the discovery of several exoplanets and the characterization of [[HD 59640]] as an eruptive variable star with flares.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Günther |first1=Maximilian N. |last2=Zhan |first2=Zhuchang |last3=Seager |first3=Sara |last4=Rimmer |first4=Paul B. |last5=Ranjan |first5=Sukrit |last6=Stassun |first6=Keivan G. |last7=Oelkers |first7=Ryan J. |last8=Daylan |first8=Tansu |last9=Newton |first9=Elisabeth |last10=Kristiansen |first10=Martti H. |last11=Olah |first11=Katalin |last12=Gillen |first12=Edward |last13=Rappaport |first13=Saul |last14=Ricker |first14=George R. |last15=Vanderspek |first15=Roland K. |date=2020-01-20 |title=Stellar Flares from the First TESS Data Release: Exploring a New Sample of M Dwarfs |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=159 |issue=2 |pages=60 |doi=10.3847/1538-3881/ab5d3a |doi-access=free |arxiv=1901.00443 |bibcode=2020AJ....159...60G |issn=0004-6256}}</ref> Other projects included the [[Mars 2020]] [[Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment]] (MOXIE).<ref>{{cite book |date=2018 |doi=10.1109/AERO.2018.8396586 |s2cid=49539396 |last1=Meyen |first1=Forrest |last2=Krishnamurthy |first2=Akshata |last3=Hoffman |first3=Jeffrey |title=2018 IEEE Aerospace Conference |chapter=System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) of the Mars oxygen ISRU experiment (MOXIE) |pages=1–10 |isbn=978-1-5386-2014-4 }}</ref>

At [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]], she was the President of the Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (GA^3) student organization<ref>{{cite web |title=Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics |url=https://ga3.mit.edu/history |website=Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (GA3) |publisher=MIT |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref> and Co-Chair of the MIT India Conference.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT India Conference|url=https://mit-india-conference.com/2018-conference/ |website=MIT India Conference |publisher=MIT |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>

== Career ==
Krishnamurthy interned at NASA's [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] as part of the ASTERIA mission while working on her PhD. In April 2021, she and her colleagues received the [[NASA]] Group Achievement Award for their work with the [[CubeSat]] [[ASTERIA (spacecraft)|ASTERIA]].<ref>{{cite web |title=NASA Group Achievement Award|url=https://ai.jpl.nasa.gov/public/awards/ |website=NASA Group Achievement Award |publisher=NASA |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=ASTERIA Group Achievement Award |url=https://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/community/awards-and-recognitions/areas-achievement |website=NASA Group Achievement Award |publisher=JPL |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref> Following graduation, she was employed as a systems engineer and science data system lead at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.<ref>{{cite web |title='How I Got a Job At NASA': Aerospace Engineer Shares 5 Tips to Build a Career in Space |date=13 May 2024 |url=https://thebetterindia.com/349546/akshata-krishnamurthy-nasa-aerospace-engineer-rocket-scientist-space-career-mit/ |publisher=[[The Better India]] |first=Sowmya |last=Mani |access-date=14 November 2024}}</ref> She also started as a systems engineer on the [[NISAR|NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)]] mission<ref name="auto">{{cite web|title=SSPI's 20 under 35 Profile|url=https://www.sspi.org/cpages/dr-akshata-krishnamurthy|website=SSPI's 20 under 35 list|publisher=[[Society of Satellite Professionals International|SSPI]]|access-date=21 December 2023|archive-date=23 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223232038/https://www.sspi.org/cpages/dr-akshata-krishnamurthy|url-status=dead}}</ref> and later became the Science Phase Lead.<ref>{{cite web|title=NISAR Project|url=https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/team/project-team/?page=0&per_page=40&order=position%20asc&search=&subtitle=&hover=false&show_email=false&show_institution=true&category=229|website=NISAR Project|publisher=NASA|access-date=31 May 2024|archive-date=1 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601035856/https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/team/project-team/?page=0&per_page=40&order=position%20asc&search=&subtitle=&hover=false&show_email=false&show_institution=true&category=229|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Krishnamurthy is currently a robotic operations systems engineer working on the Mars 2020 [[Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance]] Mission robotic operations and a principal investigator on a strategic university research program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=SURP Research|url=https://scienceandtechnology.jpl.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/posters/2023/SP23005.pdf|website=SURP Research|publisher=NASA|access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref> She previously served as an instrument engineer on NASA's [[TESS|Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)]] and as a co-investigator on [[ASTERIA (spacecraft)|ASTERIA]] missions. She is the first Indian to operate the [[Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance Mars rover]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/akshata-krishnamurthy-becomes-first-indian-to-operate-mars-rover-know-more-about-her-difficult-journey-11701779539224.html |title=Akshata Krishnamurthy becomes first Indian to operate Mars rover - Know more about her difficult journey |date=December 5, 2023 |website=www.livemint.com |publisher=[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]] |id={{ProQuest|2897523609}} }}</ref>

== Awards and recognition ==
* [[Luigi G. Napolitano Award]] from the [[International Astronautical Federation]] for contributions to [[Aerospace engineering|aerospace science]] (2017)<ref>{{cite web |title=Luigi G. Napolitano Award|url=https://www.iafastro.org/activities/honours-and-awards/iaf-young-pioneer-award/former-luigi-g-napolitano-award.html |publisher=IAF |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>
* Dr. Robbin Chapman Excellence Through Adversity Award from the MIT Office of Graduate Education (2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=Robbin Chapman Excellence Through Adversity Award |url=https://oge.mit.edu/community-diversity/awards-recognition/mit-rise-awards/ |website=Robbin Chapman Excellence Through Adversity Award |publisher=MIT |access-date=21 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223232039/https://oge.mit.edu/community-diversity/awards-recognition/mit-rise-awards/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Amelia Earhart Fellowship by the [[Zonta International|Zonta International Foundation]] (July 2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellow|url=https://space.mit.edu/akshata-krishnamurthy-named-zonta-amelia-earhart-2018-fellow/ |website=Graduate Association of Aeronautics and Astronautics (GA3) |date=9 May 2018 |publisher=MIT |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>
* Emerging Space Leader Award by the [[International Astronautical Federation]] (September 2018)<ref>{{cite web |title=Emerging Space Leader Award |url=https://www.iafastro.org/activities/next-generation/emerging-space-leaders-grant-programme/iaf-emerging-space-leaders-2018.html |website=Emerging Space Leader Award |publisher=IAF |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>
* [[MIT]] Graduate Woman of Excellence Award (2019)<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Graduate Woman of Excellence Award |url=https://oge.mit.edu/community-diversity/awards-recognition/celebration-of-graduate-women/ |website=MIT Graduate Woman of Excellence Award |publisher=MIT |access-date=21 December 2023 |archive-date=23 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231223233607/https://oge.mit.edu/community-diversity/awards-recognition/celebration-of-graduate-women/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Space and Satellite Professionals International]]'s 20 under 35 list of top space professionals (2021)<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web |title=SSPI's 20 under 35 Media Coverage |url=https://news.satnews.com/2021/09/23/sspis-20-under-35-professionals-to-be-honored-at-satellite-innovation/ |website=Satnews|access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>

== References ==

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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mars 2020]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:Planetary scientists]]
[[Category:NASA people]]
[[Category:MIT School of Engineering alumni]]
[[Category:Jet Propulsion Laboratory faculty]]
[[Category:Indian aerospace engineers]]
[[Category:Scientists from Bengaluru]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian engineers]]
[[Category:Women scientists from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Engineers from Karnataka]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women engineers]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

Akshata Krishnamurthy - Revision history

Udesign at 22:21, 4 March 2026