Launch Point

By Aleena Shinde

In the middle of amazing discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope’s breathtaking images of ancient galaxies to plans for sending astronauts back to the Moon, it feels like space exploration is thriving. But there’s a serious problem where NASA is facing major funding cuts and that could slow down or even derail the future of space science.

In the proposed U.S. budget for 2025, NASA’s funding is set to be reduced by over $500 million compared to previous years. This may seem like a drop in the bucket for a government agency, but for NASA, every dollar is carefully allocated to ambitious missions and critical science. The cutbacks have already forced delays in the Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972. With each delay, our goal of reaching Mars moves further into the future.

Projects like the Lunar Gateway, a planned space station that would orbit the Moon and serve as a stepping-stone to Mars, may be scaled back or postponed. In addition, important Earth science missions, like those monitoring climate change, rising sea levels, and natural disasters from space, face uncertain futures.

But these cuts don’t just affect astronauts and rocket launches. NASA supports a vast amount of scientific research, university partnerships, internships, and STEM education programs. Many high school and college students, like myself, dream of contributing to these missions through internships or research. Reduced funding means fewer of those opportunities, which affects not just NASA’s future workforce, but also the innovation pipeline of the entire country.

NASA is also a driver of everyday technologies we now take for granted like GPS, weather satellites, water purification systems, and even some medical devices that began as NASA projects. The long-term, high-risk research that NASA pursues often leads to breakthroughs that private companies wouldn’t take on alone. When we cut NASA’s budget, we limit the discoveries that ripple out into medicine, transportation, communications, and energy on Earth.

Meanwhile, other countries, including China and India, are increasing their space investments. If the U.S. scales back its commitment, we risk losing leadership in space exploration and technology development. While commercial companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are doing exciting work, NASA plays a unique role. it leads international collaboration, sets safety and science standards, and conducts research that isn’t driven purely by profit.

As students, we have a stake in this. The decisions made today will shape the opportunities available to our generation tomorrow. Whether we dream of becoming astronauts, engineers, climate scientists, or biologists studying life in microgravity, space science needs public support.

Investing in NASA isn’t just about exploring distant planets, it’s about building a smarter, safer, and more inspired future here on Earth. 

By Aleena Shinde

We often imagine spacewalks, zero gravity flips, or breathtaking views of Earth but there’s a less glamorous reality. These missions can be really hard on the human body.

In space, astronauts face radiation, muscle loss, fluid shifts, and even changes in their DNA. These aren’t just temporary side effects as some of them can have long-term health impacts. As we prepare for longer missions to the Moon and Mars, space medicine is becoming one of the most urgent fields in aerospace research. And artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a critical role in helping scientists understand and solve these challenges.

I got a closer look at this intersection through my involvement with NASA’s GeneLab, a research platform that studies how spaceflight affects living systems at the molecular level. GeneLab collects and shares data from experiments flown on the International Space Station (ISS), including how genes are expressed differently in space. It uses powerful tools like bioinformatics and machine learning to find patterns in the data that would take humans months or years to analyze on their own.

For example, in one project I studied, scientists used RNA sequencing to examine how space travel altered gene expression in mouse tissues. These changes can hint at increased risk for diseases like cancer or immune dysfunction. With AI, researchers can process these massive data sets to detect subtle trends, compare them across missions, and even predict how certain countermeasures, like exercise or specific diets that might help.

AI also helps build personalized health strategies for astronauts. By analyzing genetic and physiological data, machine learning models can recommend targeted treatments or predict how someone’s body might react to spaceflight. This could be crucial on future missions, where Earth-based medical support will be hours or even days away.

But the benefits of this research go beyond astronauts. The same tools used to protect health in space are also being adapted for people on Earth, especially those in extreme or remote environments. In a way, space medicine is helping us prepare for both the far future and improve healthcare today.

What fascinates me most is how this research blends biology, engineering, data science, and even philosophy. We’re not just asking “What happens to the human body in space?”, we’re asking, “What does it mean to be human when we leave Earth?”

The more I learn through NASA GeneLab and other space biology programs, the more inspired I feel to pursue a career in engineering and maybe biomedical research. I don’t know exactly where that path will lead me yet, but I do know that machine learning and space exploration will be part of it.

*I am so grateful for my opportunity with the NASA Genelab (GL4HS) Summer Program as a pivotal stepping stone on my journey. The skills I have learned will serve me well as I continue to explore my future aspirations.

By Aleena Shinde

If someone had told me a week of summer engineering camp could feel like an entire semester packed into six days, I would have laughed. But after attending the Purdue STEP (Seminar for Top Engineering Prospects) Program, I totally get it. This wasn’t just a summer camp; it was a crash course in engineering, teamwork, independence, and dorm life.

I met peers from all over the country, and I got lucky with some really great suitemates. Sharing a bathroom with three other girls (who, like me, all needed time for showers, hair, and makeup) was… an adjustment, especially coming from the comfort of my own bathroom at home. But somehow, that became one of the bonding points. We figured it out. We laughed. We shared stories. It was chaotic and fun in a “this is real college life” kind of way.

What really made the week unforgettable was my lab team. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. We worked hard, communicated well, and had a blast building a roller coaster, circuit kits, robotics and functioning laser tag arcade game. Winning the arcade competition felt surreal, and taking home a mini Pac-Man arcade as a prize was the icing on the cake.

I’ll admit, the first lecture threw me into panic mode. We jumped straight into intense physics and math, and not having taken physics in over a year made me feel behind. But by the second day, as we shifted into design and hands-on electrical work, I started to find my footing. There’s only so much instruction you can cram into a week, but it was impressive how much we were exposed to and the autonomy provided.

Between packed lectures, labs, engineering discipline events, and Purdue traditions, the days were long and exhausting. I needed two full days to recover (and I’m not even counting my canceled flight and 6 a.m. backup!). But despite the sleep deprivation, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Even the cafeteria food, which I fully expected to dread, was actually not bad. Pro tip: packing night snacks and candy just in case? Excellent decision.

Looking back, STEP was more than a program. It was a preview of college life, a reality check on the speed and depth of engineering courses, and a space to meet future classmates and collaborators. It confirmed for me that Purdue Honors Engineering is the real deal and solidified my future aspiration as an engineer. Sure, it’ll be tough. Sure, I’ll have to keep pushing myself in math and physics. But I’ve had a taste of the environment and I’m ready to rise to it.

I came home with a prize, new friends, unforgettable memories, and a stronger sense of purpose. And honestly, what more could you ask for from one amazing week?

* Thank you to all the Purdue STEP administration, interns and peers that helped made the experience a truly memorable one.