In Episode 117 of The Astro Ben Podcast, Ben sits down with Mamta Patel Nagaraja, former Associate Chief Scientist for Exploration and Applied Research at NASA, who recently left the agency amid its office closures in February 2025. Mamta reflects on her career leading biomedical and physical sciences for the ISS, Artemis, and commercial space missions, while sharing candid insights on NASA's challenges and opportunities in 2025. From streamlining science communication to navigating a toxic work environment, her story is one of resilience and reinvention. Now a free agent in STEM, Mamta discusses her future plans and offers some advice to the new NASA administration.

OUTLINE:

Here's approximate timestamps for the episode.

00:00 Intro to Mamta Patal Nagaraja

00:57 Mamta's passion for Space

03:20 Working for NASA

06:12 How to/can you quantify "is a mission worth it?"

08:30 NASA cuts and how it was done - the timing of Manta's departure from NASA

12:15 Jared Isaacmans involvement?

15:00 What is NASA's mission?

17:45 How to predict/predict other committed programs?

22:17 Space science communication

24:52 Whats next post NASA?

Mamta Patal Nagaraja: Ex-NASA (24 years), currently free agent in STEM