The water on Mars, he says, is probably very salty and not pure.
Nantes, France:
A mad passion for science - and to some extent his mother - made him swap his long locks and full-time death metal guitar-strumming, for the pursuit of finding water on Mars, 25-year-old Lujendra "Luju" Ojha says.
Mr Ojha, or "Luju" as he is called, is seen as perhaps the latest in a growing list of young space scientists that are defying the stereotype of the lab-coated and drawling researchers. Currently pursuing a PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, he was the primary author of the study billed as the most definitive proof of water on Mars yet.
Speaking to NDTV, the Nepalese-American says discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding if the Red Planet did, does and will ever support life.
"This time we've actually looked at the surface of Mars with an instrument called spectrometer and we've actually found chemical evidence that there's water. It's more of an unambiguous detection this time," he says.
But the water, he says, is probably very salty and not pure. "If it's salty we shouldn't be able to drink it but we should definitely be able to use it as a resource in the future when we need it," Luju says.
So considering the implications of his find, if he got a free ticket would he go? And what would he take along?
"If I could claim a free ticket, I would go in a heartbeat. There would be no second decision for me. I think I would probably pack my guitar or I don't know, beer?" he says.
On a more personal note, the part-time-death-metal guitarist confides that while he had cut his long hair because his mother wasn't happy, his reason for taking up the path-breaking research profile wasn't purely financial.
"I was playing the guitar in Nepal and the US. Economic needs make people do different things in life and take different course of actions. But the bigger motivation was the passion for science itself," Luju says.
Oh and the favourite Bollywood movie of the scientist? "Sholay," he says.
Mr Ojha, or "Luju" as he is called, is seen as perhaps the latest in a growing list of young space scientists that are defying the stereotype of the lab-coated and drawling researchers. Currently pursuing a PhD at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, he was the primary author of the study billed as the most definitive proof of water on Mars yet.
Speaking to NDTV, the Nepalese-American says discovery brings scientists one step closer to finding if the Red Planet did, does and will ever support life.
"This time we've actually looked at the surface of Mars with an instrument called spectrometer and we've actually found chemical evidence that there's water. It's more of an unambiguous detection this time," he says.
But the water, he says, is probably very salty and not pure. "If it's salty we shouldn't be able to drink it but we should definitely be able to use it as a resource in the future when we need it," Luju says.
So considering the implications of his find, if he got a free ticket would he go? And what would he take along?
"If I could claim a free ticket, I would go in a heartbeat. There would be no second decision for me. I think I would probably pack my guitar or I don't know, beer?" he says.
On a more personal note, the part-time-death-metal guitarist confides that while he had cut his long hair because his mother wasn't happy, his reason for taking up the path-breaking research profile wasn't purely financial.
"I was playing the guitar in Nepal and the US. Economic needs make people do different things in life and take different course of actions. But the bigger motivation was the passion for science itself," Luju says.
Oh and the favourite Bollywood movie of the scientist? "Sholay," he says.
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