Assam govt sponsors 13 meritorious students’ NASA trip

Zee Media Bureau/Salome Phelamei

Guwahati: In a move that could encourage students to focus in space science and astronomy, the Assam government is sponsoring 13 students for a 10-day trip to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the United States. The 13 students are rank holders in the 2013 state board exams of class X and XII. Besides NASA, they will also visit Washington DC, New York, AT&T, Bell Lab and Benz Manufacturing factory. This is the second time that the state government is sponsoring a trip for meritorious students to NASA. The first batch took the journey last year after the Assam government initiated annual NASA visit plan in 2011 for rank holders with an aim to give students an exposure to the advances in space science and astronomy. “During the NASA visit, the students will get to know the various aspects of space and astronomy in simulated environment including astronaut training, conducting of space experiments with NASA educators, understanding space shuttle mission control, meeting Nasa scientists and they will directly interact with the NASA astronauts,” said a government spokesperson. While the students will be able to understand the challenges of space exploration during the trip, they will also get the chance to see the John F Kennedy Space Centre set up in Orlando - the home of every manned space flight from the US since 1968, said a senior official of the education department. The students will also camp for two days at the US Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. They will also participate in simulated space shuttle missions, understand mission controls, monitor the progress and safety to understand successful launching and landing of the spacecraft, and conduct experiments while learning basic scientific principles in the camp.