Anita Sengupta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anita Sengupta
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Southern California |
| Known for | Cold Atom Laboratory Mars Science Laboratory Deep Space 1 Ion propulsion |
| Awards | Best technical paper by the Electric Propulsion Technical Committee of the AAIAA ASEI Woman Engineer of the Year Recipient |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Aerospace engineer |
| Institutions | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology University of Southern California Virgin Hyperloop One Airspace Experience Technologies |
| Thesis | Experimental and Analytical Investigation of a Ring Cusp Ion Thruster Discharge Chamber Physics and Performance (2005) |
Anita Sengupta is an American aerospace engineer. She studied aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Southern California. She led the team that created the special parachute for the Curiosity rover when it landed on Mars.
Later, she managed the Cold Atom Laboratory project at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She also worked as a top engineer at Virgin Hyperloop One, a company working on super-fast transportation. Today, she is a Chief Product Officer at Airspace Experience Technologies (ASX), a company that designs new ways to travel in the air.
Early Life and Inspiration
Anita Sengupta was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Her family later moved to New York, where she grew up. Her father was a mechanical engineer from India. Her mother, who was British, was an expert in French and German. Her parents met while studying for their PhDs.
From a young age, Anita was fascinated by space. When she was six, she loved watching Star Trek. She was especially interested in the character Spock and his adventures on a spaceship. This show helped inspire her to become an aerospace engineer.
The Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL)
Anita Sengupta was the project manager for the Cold Atom Laboratory, also known as CAL. CAL is a special science lab located on the International Space Station (ISS). Its main purpose is to study very cold gases in space.
In space, there is very little gravity. This allows scientists to make gases much colder than they can on Earth. They can reach temperatures as low as 1 picokelvin (which is super, super cold!). This helps them observe new and amazing things about how tiny particles behave.
CAL was sent to the ISS in 2018. Astronauts installed it inside the space station. Scientists on Earth can control CAL remotely from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The lab was designed to be used by many different scientists. It can also be updated or fixed while it is in space. CAL helps scientists learn more about quantum physics. It also helps prepare for future space tools that use super-cooled atoms.
See also
- Adam Steltzner
- Bobak Ferdowsi
