Meet the space set designers
M. ANAS
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The team from Amity International School has made it to the finals at NASA.
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PHOTO:R.V. MOORTHY
Into aerospace: The finalists
“There is something somewhere waiting to be explored”, said astronomer Carl Sagan. And the 12 students from Amity International School, Saket, will agree with him. They have been declared finalists for the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC) to be held at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre located at Houston, Texas. The team has to compete with eight other teams at the competition which will be held from July 21 to 23.
Popularly known as the “SpaceSet” ISSDC is held every year at NASA .The competition emulates an industrial environment set in the future, giving the teams the experience of working as an actual aerospace industry proposal team. The Amity Team emerged winners at the Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition organised by NASA in Gurgaon earlier this year, which enabled them to represent Asia at the ISSDC. Amity announced the team recently in the Capital. Jon R Dorshner, First Secretary, Political Affairs, at the U.S. Embassy in India, who was present on the occasion spoke about the growth of educational institutes in India. The team has to design a fictional space settlement “Astoria” located at the edge of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The design has to be compiled in a 40-page proposal which should include details about the various factors that need to be tackled for constructing a space settlement such as structure and design.
Meet challenge
Pratish Kumar, a third year Engineering student at Thapar University and advisor to the team said, “We worked for hours in the computer lab and struggled with innovative concepts for the competition. Now that we have been selected it feels great but we still have a long way to go.” Pratish, who aspires to become a space scientist, had earlier led a team to NASA. The competition is said to be the toughest in the world and is an exercise in creativity, technical competence, management skills, and teamwork and presentation techniques.
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