HYDERABAD: A workshop for selecting and training 20 student astronauts for the International Space Settlement Design competition commenced here on Saturday. Billed as one of the most challenging and exciting competitions, it is sponsored by the Boeing Corporation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA. About 200 students in the age group of 14 to 18 years from different schools turned up at the Little Flower High School, Abids.

The Planetary Society, India, is organising the training session to promote astronomy and encourage future explorers. The Society secretary, N. Sri Raghunandan Kumar, is hopeful of India faring better in the finals in view of the good show put up by Vignan Pattamatta, a student of St. Paul's High School, last year. During the ten-day training session scientists from NGRI, CCMB, NRSA and Survey of India will pass on expertise in various subjects to the selected students.

P.V. Ramana, former principal scientist, Atomic Energy Department, said the competition expected from the students creativity, good communication skills -- both written and spoken -- and a general knowledge of physics, biology, arts and human engineering.

He explained that a team of 20 student space architects would be short listed to take part in the design sequence from October 7 to November 7. The design teams would be asked to plan and develop a city in space.

As many as 2,500 teams from all over Asia would be taking part. Of them eight teams would be selected for the Asian finals to be held at Chandigarh from January 27 to 30.

Here the teams would be given just 24 hours to come up with their proposals. One team, comprising 12 students, would be declared the winner, and this would take part in the international finals at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida.

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