![tara](/faculty/mcmahon/sites/default/files/styles/small/public/people/tara_photo.jpeg?itok=QpIesfCg)
Taralicin defended her Ph.D. in August 2023. She is originally from Assam, India. She holds a prior B.Tech聽degree in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology Silchar,聽India, and an MSc. degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University聽of Colorado Boulder, USA. In her research she leverages motion planning ideas聽from the field of robotics and expands their application to achieve safe, fuel-聽efficient, and near-optimal motion planning in astrodynamics. After graduation,聽her goal is to work in the space industry and contribute her part in enabling聽autonomous deep space exploration to help聽humanity extend its reach into the聽depths of the cosmos. Besides her love for aerospace, she is also a passionate聽dancer and a singer. In her free time, she loves to write, paint, and spend time聽with nature. She now works at Morpheus Space in El Segundo, CA.