Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued a special recognition honoring Ojha, a Nepalese-American immigrant who first came to Arizona with his parents at age 15. His father started as a graduate student at the University of Arizona and is now a researcher there.
Nepalis, Nepalese Americans, Arizonans, and death metal rockers are all rushing to congratulate and claim young Lujendra "Luju" Ojha, the 25-year-old graduate student who was part of the team that helped confirm the existence of liquid flowing water on Mars, as announced by NASA this week.
"Certainly it's a great achievement for me and for the whole team as well," Ojha told NBC News. "I am receiving great messages, which is encouraging me a lot. I am really feeling grateful."
John McCain ✔ @SenJohnMcCain
Congrats to @UofA grad Lujendra Ojha, who first spotted evidence of water on #Mars as undergrad in #Tucson - #Arizona is very proud! #NASA
U.S. Embassy Nepal ✔ @USEmbassyNepal
Congratulations to Lujendra Ojha - the 25y old #Nepal-USA @GeorgiaTech grad student who discovered water on #Mars !
http://goo.gl/qifWI7[url]http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/nepalese-american-death-metal-rocker-who-discovered-water-mars-n437131?cid=sm_fb[/url]