At the age of eight, she used to look at the sky and deeply think about stars and the moon. She still remembers those moments. Then she knew about aeroplanes and then she got interested in it.
Jyoti KC, 30, a native of Dang, has a different hat. A US Air Force medical officer, she is also the first Nepali-American analogue astronaut to join Lunares Research Station. In eight years she achieved all these achievements. As of now, her biggest dream is to reach and explore space.
Lately, KC has been working voluntarily as an ambassador of NASA Solar System. Talking to Onlinekhabar, she will be working in more areas with NASA in the future.
Jyoti KC believes the technology will drastically change in 10-15 years.
“It will be easy for general people to reach space,” says KC. All they have to do is pay money.”
My dream is very small in front of the development that the technology is witnessing. She says travelling to space will be normal in the future.
Her dream has come even closer after participating in Poland’s Analogue Astronaut Mission. She is confident that her dream will be fulfilled within one and a half decades.
KC wants to reach space not just as a passenger but as someone with responsibility. She wants to travel to space either as an aerospace engineer, medical officer or commander.
However, people do not consider her dream easy to fulfil either in Nepal or in the USA.
“My ultimate mission is to reach space, regardless of whatever others think, ” she says.
USA, Air Force and space
Born and raised in a middle-class family, Jyoti KC completed her schooling at Moonlight Boarding School, Dang. She was a student and used to read all the books that his father used to bring. The habit of book reading made her curious and critical. She was also active in extracurricular activities.
During school days KC used to play football and volleyball and she was a top five student in her class.
KC attended her high school at Mani Mukunda College, Butwal. Then she started to study architectural engineering and interior design. Everything was going well with her studies. Following her friends applied for DV and she proved to be lucky.
KC never thought that she would apply for DV and go to the USA. In July 2017, she went to the USA, and after this, her life took a new turn. She found a place to fulfil her childhood dream.
Initially, it was difficult for her to adapt to life in the USA.
“Although I knew English, it was difficult to understand, It took me a while to cope,” she says. “However life is a learning, by learning we improve ourselves.”
The good thing is every kind of profession is respected in the USA. No work is big or small, she says. KC worked in a nursing home and also in a beauty salon.
In this context, KC got to know the retired soldiers of the Air Force. Then the thought of joining the US Air Force came to her mind. Just after three months of reaching the USA, she started preparation to join the American Air Force.
In 2019, she joined the U.S. Air Force and felt she was closer to achieving her dream. Since then her confidence has been boosting each day.
“I could have earned well if I had joined any other sector such as IT and nursing but instead of focusing on money, I chased my dream and chose to join the Air Force,” she says.
After completing 14 months of process she got selected into the American Air Force. Besides holding a green card and a minimum qualification of +2, other criteria should be met to join the American Air Force.
“I was underweight so I gained weight,” she says. “One should be fit mentally and physically.”
It took KC 11 months to complete the training of the air force.
As an analogue astronaut
While working in the Air Force, KC learned about the Analogue Astronaut Mission through her friends. Some of her friends have already participated in it from the USA and Poland.
Finally, from May 22, 2022, to June 11, 2022, KC participated in the Lunares Research Station. in Poland.
“I am very happy to become the first Nepali-American analogue astronaut,” she says.
According to her, currently, there are a couple of Nepali trying to join Lunares Research Station and she has been helping them. At the Lunares Research Station, along with KC, there were five other researchers from different countries.
“I was assigned as the commander of a serious mission that’s why I had an extra role to play,” she says.
Analogue astronaut training is a kind of practice before becoming an astronaut. “Astronauts go through such training for a couple of years before travelling to space.”
The experience in engineering, military and medicine made KC things easy.
I knew about my potential and various ideas about space through that training, she says.
