Karur (Tamil Nadu): The world’s lightest satellite, built by students from Karur district, has been selected to be launched by NASA.
College students Adnaan, Kesevan and Arun built their fist satellite when they were in school out of their endless love for science.
The 64-gram satellite made out of reinforced graphene polymer with a circumference of 3 cms was named ‘Indian Sat’. It could detect 13 types of information and run on solar power at a capacity of 3.3 volts.
TN students' satellite wins NASA competition, will be launched soon NASA, the American Space Research Centre, in collaboration with INC conducts a competition for students called ‘Cubes in Space’ in which the winning satellites would be launched into space by NASA.
Students aged between 11 and 18 years from around 73 countries would take part in this global competition.
Adnaan, Kesevan and Arun participated in this competition for the first time while studying 12th std. but were unable to win due to lack of experience.
Being aware of the fact that failure is the foundation of success, they diligently engaged themselves in building a new satellite since 2018.
Subsequently, their satellite earned them victory in the 2019-20 competition and is set to be launched into space by NASA via rocket SR-7 in June next year.
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Commenting on this Adnaan said, “We built this satellite to bring pride to Karur and Tamil Nadu. We spent 1.35 lakhs on this. We are happy that our efforts were recognized.”
If successfully launched, this satellite would have the honour of being the lightest in the world. These students are an example to show that students from rural regions could also be successful with hard work.
Sivagami, the teacher who aided the students, said, “Though we initially struggled without financial assistance, it is now a great honour for the Government College as the satellite has been selected for launch. The materials required to build the satellite were bought from America. Hence, there were unnecessary delays and expenditures.”
“We had applied to the Director of Collegiate Education for funding. But, we haven’t received any response as of yet. We might need additional funding up until the satellite is sent to NASA. Hence, I request the Government and voluntary organisations to provide financial assistance to the students,” she added.
It is the responsibility of the Government to encourage students who make remarkable achievements in science. Therefore, the Government should identify and motivate students who excel in the field.
