The initiative, officially named Polarimetry in the Ultraviolet to Find Features in INterStellar Dust, represents a partnership between the University of Arizona and the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory. Principal investigator Ramya Anche conceived the proposal during her postdoctoral work after moving to the United States in 2021. With its $20 million funding secured in October 2026, the spacecraft will focus specifically on microscopic dust grains. These tiny interstellar particles play a fundamental role in shaping galaxies across the universe.
Key points
The mission secured $20 million in NASA funding to analyze microscopic dust affecting spa…: The mission secured $20 million in NASA funding to analyze microscopic dust affecting space light transmission.
Collaborative research efforts for the project unite scientists from the University of Ar…: Collaborative research efforts for the project unite scientists from the University of Arizona and the McDonald Observatory.
A childhood interest sparked by the 2003 Columbia disaster eventually led Anche to propos…: A childhood interest sparked by the 2003 Columbia disaster eventually led Anche to propose and direct the mission.
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This is the story of Ramya Manjunath Anche, a Bengaluru-born astronomer preparing to study something that has remained difficult for scientists to understand for decades. The subject is of the tiny particles of dust floating between stars. As a teenager fascinated by the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, she has now grown up to lead a NASA-funded space telescope mission worth $20 million.
Anche is now working as an assistant research professor at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory as the principal investigator of NASA’s PUFFINS mission. The aim of the mission is to investigate interstellar dust using a specialised ultraviolet telescope. The mission, selected under NASA’s Astrophysics Pioneers programme, received $20 million in funding in October 2026 and is targeted for launch in 2030.
What makes her achievement interesting is that the scientist leading this ambitious international project began her journey in Devanahalli, a town near Bengaluru, India. She then went on to pursue engineering and astrophysics in India before taking her research career to the United States.
Journey from a curious schoolgirl to an astronomerDr Ramya (@supernova_mentoring)
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