Odisha Students Taste Success At NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge

Bringing laurels to the country, the Navonmesh Prasar Student Astronomy Team (NaPSAT) from Odisha has managed to make history again! This was the first ever high school team to represent India at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Human Exploration Rover Challenge. Now this same team of 10 enthusiastic students has managed to bag 3rd position in the ‘Overall Category’ as well as the ‘Best Videography Award’ in the high school division. The prestigious awards were announced on April 16th on a virtual platform. The news was also announced by NASA on its official twitter handle. The NaPSAT team secured third position in the overall category in the high school division. Parish Episcopal School Team 1, Dallas, Texas and Stillwater Area High School, Stillwater, Minnesota bagged the first and second positions respectively. The team also proved its mettle in another category and bagged the ‘Best Videography Award’ in the high school division. The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge is an annual competition held by NASA for high school and university students. Students have to design, build and test a rover, capable of traversing exoplanetary-like landscapes as well as work on communication, management, stem engagement, etc. The team from Odisha had built a rover named NaPSAT 1.0 under the guidance of Young Tinker and the Navonmesh Prasar Foundation. The rover made by the team is capable of traversing all different kinds of terrains which brought it success at this year’s competition.