The NASA headquarters has made a startling revelation about the claims of Sataparna Mukherjee, the 18-year-old girl from West Bengal who said she had bagged the prestigious NASA Goddard Internship Programme (GIP) under the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).
In a clarification sent to dna on email, NASA said, “We have no record of anyone by that name receiving an internship, scholarship or any form of academic or financial assistance from any NASA institute, centre or program”.
While Mukherjee had claimed she has bagged the prestigious internship that would allow her to pursue a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at "NASA’s London Astrobiology Centre", NASA said that they do not have any facility in London and the internship is awarded to US citizens only.
“The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies has no facilities in London and all of the institute’s internships are awarded to students who live within 50 miles of its location in New York City,” the reply stated.
When dna contacted Mukherjee about her response to the revelations made by NASA, she claimed, “They are denying it because we had signed a contract which said we cannot divulge anything relating to the internship program. It’s extremely confidential and now that it is out in the open, they are denying it.”
On pointing out that the offer letter she claims was sent to her by the NASA Observatory Centre spelt ‘Goddard’ incorrectly as ‘Godward’, she added, “It’s a technical error. The spelling is correct on the original document, but I am not supposed to share it with the media considering the confidentiality.”
While Mukherjee is upbeat about going to London, claiming that NASA has sent her air-tickets, her future hangs in the balance.
