NASA appoints Indian-American Bhavya Lal as Acting Chief of Staff of US space agency

NASA had appointed Indian origin American Bhavya Lal as the Acting Chief of Staff of the US space agency on Monday. Lal was a member of the Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for the agency and also oversaw the agency’s transition under President Joe Biden’s administration.

NASA in a statement, said, Lal who had served as a research member at the Institute for Defence Analyses Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI) from 2005 to 2020 had bought ample experience in engineering and space technology, reported PTI.

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Under the Biden transisional team, she conducted analysis of space technology, strategy, and policy for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and National Space Council, along with the federal space-oriented organisations, including NASA, the Department of Defence and the intelligence community.

She also served two successive terms on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Federal Advisory Committee on Commercial Remote Sensing and was also in the Innovation and Engineering Advisory Committee of the NASA Advisory Council as an External Council member of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program and the Technology.

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Lal, an active member of the space technology and policy community has co-founded and is co-chair of the policy track of the American Nuclear Society’s annual conference on Nuclear and Emerging Technologies in Space (NETS).

Lal is a Science and Master of Science graduate in nuclear engineering and has done Master of Science degree in technology and policy. She also holds a doctorate degree in public policy and public administration, reported PTI.

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She was also nominated and elected to be a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics for her contributions to the space sector, mentioned the statement.