5 February, 2026, 4:48 pm Central - 28°C Rain

Neharika Gambhir makes history as first Fijian-American Analog Astronaut

Neharika Gambhir makes history as first Fijian-American Analog Astronaut

By Alipate Narawa
12/11/2024
Photo: Neharika Gambhir/Facebook

Neharika Gambhir has become the first Analog Astronaut of Fijian-American origin.

An Analog Astronaut plays the role of an astronaut during a simulated crewed mission.

Gambhir attended Saint Joseph's Secondary School in Suva.

She is passionate about space medicine and Intravehicular Space-suit Research.

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Gambhir is also pursuing her degree in Computer Science and working towards a PhD in Computational Life Sciences specializing in Computational Neurology and the study of Neural Networks in the diagnosis of Vascular Malformations.

She is also undergoing astronaut scientist candidacy training at the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences.

The Analog Astronaut aspires to become a commercial astronaut and in her free time she enjoys helping out with World War 2 aircraft restoration and performing educational public outreach and airshows with war-birds.

As an astrobiologist, she is responsible for the care of all organisms, hydroponic and bioreactor systems on board.

As a data officer, Gambhir is responsible for the collection, records and accuracy of data from all experiments.

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