Indian origin Roy sisters interning at NASA while pursuing engineering degrees

The two Indian-origin sisters, Pratima Roy, and Pooja Roy, interning with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and are working on missions that ties into the Moon to Mars mission and the Artemis program to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024.

Besides interning at NASA Glenn Research Center, Roy sisters are also pursuing Computer Engineering technology from the New York City College of Technology.

"I am currently working on the same project “Converting Java Applets to JavaScript for web-based Aeronautics Simulations” which I have been working on during Fall 2020," says Pooja. "This STEM project ties into the Moon to Mars mission and the Artemis program because it is an extensively popular site that receives high traffic views and consists of lesson plans, projects, and interactive simulations to explore the theory and practice of flight in space."

Pratima is learning about "Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Biomimicry, and AWS Web services" and credits WiTNY and Rewriting the Code in helping her develop professionally in her STEM journey.

Pooja Roy (Image: NASA)

"Our work can tie into this [Moon to Mars mission] by having Robots or tasks completed at Moon to gather data and labeling, Pratima explains. "I know that when the Astronauts go to the Moon, they will need much data collection and research from Moon to Earth. This made me think about how my project ties into this because when going to the Moon we will need information from Moon and other planets. Then we can have that information on Earth. Scientists and Researchers can work on implementing more strategies and devices to gather and collect in order to reach Mars safely and smoothly."

Pooja says that she has achieved many accomplishments by contributing to NASA missions, completing online SATERN training and has gained support and guidance from her mentors during the program.