Conditions existed for life on Mars – we may not be the only beings: Anita Sengupta
Aerospace
engineer Anita Sengupta is part of Nasa’s Curiosity team, playing a key
role in the historic touchdown on Mars of the nearly one-ton Curiosity
rover.
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Nasa's Curiosity mission probing Mars has just completed one year - and found favourable conditions for life having existed on the Red Planet. Aerospace engineer Anita Sengupta
is part of Nasa's Curiosity team, playing a key role in the historic
touchdown on Mars of the nearly one-ton Curiosity rover. Sengupta, who
is of Indian origin and currently visiting to interact with Indian
scientists, students and receive an award in Bengal, spoke with Laxman Srinivas about the significance of Curiosity, her passion for science fiction - and exploring life in outer space:
What inspired your zeal for space exploration?
Science fiction inspired me to go in for space exploration, in particular, for engineering. I always enjoyed reading science fiction - to me, it represents what i may call a better version of the world, where there is no negativity. I am a tremendous fan of Dr Who. In my spare time, i read a lot of science fiction like Arthur C Clarke and Ray Bradbury.
Curiosity's just completed one year on Mars - what are some of its main achievements?
Landing a car-sized rover with incredible precision on the surface of Mars is my personal favourite! That's from an engineering perspective but from a science perspective, Curiosity's making unique measurements of the soil, rocks and atmosphere that increase our understanding of the evolution of Mars.
Curiosity is now embarking on her long drive towards Mount Sharp where she will explore the rocks and soil of this fascinating region, continuing to discover the evidence of past habitability.
What are the chances of life existing on Mars?
Well, the aim of the Curiosity mission was to determine whether there are conditions on Mars for habitability - earlier this year, there was a breakthrough in this area. Curiosity established that conditions did exist which were favourable for the existence of life. Further research is still in progress in this field.
What are the possibilities of alien life in space which, according to Stephen Hawking, could be real?
We still do not know how life originated and there are various theories - but i believe it is unlikely that we are the only living beings.
There's been discussion recently of the social impact of the Curiosity mission amongst people - please tell us about this?
The Curiosity mission has had a tremendous social impact globally because it got people across the world interested in space exploration and in particular, Mars exploration. This mission made the public appreciate the importance and significance of space missions - and more importantly, it's inspired the next generation to take to science and engineering. It has provided a tremendous impetus to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our missions to the Red Planet have become academically so important that a lot of textbooks in the US now have the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on their covers.
The Curiosity mission has made people pay tributes to the accomplishments of people, making them focus on leading a life endowed with intellectual values, rather than just a material existence.
COMMENT:- What inspired your zeal for space exploration?
Science fiction inspired me to go in for space exploration, in particular, for engineering. I always enjoyed reading science fiction - to me, it represents what i may call a better version of the world, where there is no negativity. I am a tremendous fan of Dr Who. In my spare time, i read a lot of science fiction like Arthur C Clarke and Ray Bradbury.
Curiosity's just completed one year on Mars - what are some of its main achievements?
Landing a car-sized rover with incredible precision on the surface of Mars is my personal favourite! That's from an engineering perspective but from a science perspective, Curiosity's making unique measurements of the soil, rocks and atmosphere that increase our understanding of the evolution of Mars.
Curiosity is now embarking on her long drive towards Mount Sharp where she will explore the rocks and soil of this fascinating region, continuing to discover the evidence of past habitability.
What are the chances of life existing on Mars?
Well, the aim of the Curiosity mission was to determine whether there are conditions on Mars for habitability - earlier this year, there was a breakthrough in this area. Curiosity established that conditions did exist which were favourable for the existence of life. Further research is still in progress in this field.
What are the possibilities of alien life in space which, according to Stephen Hawking, could be real?
We still do not know how life originated and there are various theories - but i believe it is unlikely that we are the only living beings.
There's been discussion recently of the social impact of the Curiosity mission amongst people - please tell us about this?
The Curiosity mission has had a tremendous social impact globally because it got people across the world interested in space exploration and in particular, Mars exploration. This mission made the public appreciate the importance and significance of space missions - and more importantly, it's inspired the next generation to take to science and engineering. It has provided a tremendous impetus to science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our missions to the Red Planet have become academically so important that a lot of textbooks in the US now have the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on their covers.
The Curiosity mission has made people pay tributes to the accomplishments of people, making them focus on leading a life endowed with intellectual values, rather than just a material existence.
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