Bhubaneswar: Bringing laurels for the State, 10 students from Odisha have been selected to participate in NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Human Rover Challenge scheduled to be held next year. What's more remarkable is that this is for the first time when a school team would be representing India at the international-level event.
The team formed by the city-based Navonmesh Prasar Foundation comprises school kids and some ITI students from across the State.
According to sources, the Human Exploration Rover Challenge scheduled in April 2021 will witness the participation of various teams from across the globe. For this challenge, the teams will develop human rovers that can move on the surface of Mars.
Excited over the selection, Anil Pradhan, founder of Navonmesh Prasar Foundation said, “It is for the first time that a school team from India has been selected for the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. We have identified 10 students from the State, and the team was formed during the pandemic.”
“Initially we imparted training to the students and then applied for the international event. The team is now sweating it out to make a rover that can move on Mars surface,” Pradhan informed adding that they are also raising funds for the competition.
The team from Odisha is quite optimistic of giving a tough fight and has aimed to develop the rover in 4-5 months.
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Tanvi Mallick, a class IX student who is a part of the team said, “We are the first team from Odisha and first high school student team from India that has been selected for the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. We will be going to Alabama in April 2021 to represent our country in the competition.”
“We are working on a rover that can handle the weight of two people and move on the terrains of Mars and Moon. We will be competing with 100 other teams participating in the event,” said Ankan Mondal, another team member.
(Edited By Devbrat Patnaik)