A charred metallic capsule lands upon the pristine golden steppes of Kazakhstan. Yet another crew emerges victoriously and safely out of a Soyuz spacecraft. Every such landing was a source of much joy in my family, who took pride in the fact that the Baikonur cosmodrome in our ancestral lands was the site of historical launches for all humanity, from the first satellite to the first man and to dozens of space missions to this day. Despite ethnic Kazakhs being systematically discriminated against from partaking in the Russian-dominated space program, Baikonur inspired many, including my family and in turn planted a deep love and curiosity for space.
Crashed Soyuz Spacecraft being salvaged in the Altai Territory, Kazakhstan - (P.C. Jonas Bendiksen)
When my family fled the turbulent years of post-Soviet Kazakhstan as refugees to seek asylum in the US, much was extinguished in our family at the time. In many ways, the needs of immigrant survival left little room to talk about let alone dream for the stars again. Half a world away, growing up, I felt the need to focus on grounded science and found a growing passion in robotics and autonomous systems. I found the ability to breathe life into a hunk of wire, metal and various sensors and let it function freely based on the logic implanted into it, as beautiful as it was challenging. Particularly, I delved deep into autonomous robotics, and computer vision applications in sensors and projects in a variety of settings including internships at Luminar investigating lidar and academic research such as CURIS with Professor Landay in Augmented Reality.
However, even when I met accomplishments in robotics on Earth, my mind continued to imagine its applications in space. As I have patiently yet excitedly monitored the bounds and strides being made in aerospace, I foresee that the future of space technology and flight lies in autonomous robotics, and that some of the most important innovations that we implement on Earth will have even more effect in aerospace.
I envision that the democratization of satellite tech and increasing the channel between enterprise and space are the path forward to functionalizing space flight. I will strive to innovate at the tip of the spear, appreciating and standing on the shoulders of pioneers who built autonomous flights at SpaceX, or the engineers behind the first private space station from Axiom Space. The next generation of autonomous systems are being built, and I dream to develop the foundational technical infrastructure that will springboard future space programs.
In addition to this core focus as my field of study, I would also like to share with you a personal stretch goal of mine. Future aerospace ventures will need a new brand of astronaut - not just pilots, biologists, and physicists, but engineers who can not just operate, but improvise with their digital comrades. I aspire to pioneer this new and critical member of the astronaut team. While certainly aspirational, it is a goal that is actionable and by many successful examples including fellow Stanford alum, has not detracted from astronauts’ primary career goals.