Delhi: Senior Scientist and Lead Technologist at the Johnson Space Centre, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dr. Kumar Krishen, visited the Delhi Technology University (DTU) on Friday and interacted with the students and faculty members of the university.

An accomplished engineer, manager and educator with over 30 years of experience in academia, government and industry, Dr. Krishen spoke about the 'Technology needs for future human space mission' and 'New Technology Innovations with potentials for space application', on the occasion.

According to Dr. Krishen, "There are several overarching constraints in space exploration for the astronauts including performing in extreme environment conditions such as diverse temperature, zero gravity, vacuum, radiation and limited availability of power, among others."

Dr. Krishen, who is in India on vacation, also mentioned Space Radiation as a major issue of concern in space exploration. "It is important to address the risks to human exploration in space such as ionizing radiation, solar particle events and galactic cosmic rays. The possible risks of space radiation involve cancer, damage to central nervous system, cataracts, heart disease etc," he informed.

Speaking on the ways to reduce cost of space mission, he remarked, "One of the ways to reduce the cost of space missions is to recycle and reuse whatever resources are available in the space craft whether it is water, air or food." He also answered several queries of students regarding space exploration.

The talk of Dr. Krishen was attended by Dr. R.K. Sinha, Dean of Industrial Relations, Prof. Rajiv Kapoor, Head of Department of Electronics & Communication, Prof. Narendra Kumar, Head of Department of Electrical Engineering and Prof. Asok Bhattacharya, besides students of varied disciplines like Engineering Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Nanotechnology and Electronics & Communication Engineering to mention some.

Dr. Krishen will deliver another talk at DTU on Saturday, on the subject 'New Technologies Developed by Small Business'.