This past Thursday, President Obama urged young americans to pursue engineering over finance, ensuring that America will remain a technological leader.
Ironically, the Indian Space Research Organization announced today that they will be launching a student-built satellite.
Called Anusat, the micro-student satellite will be launched by a four-stage rocket (PSLV), and has been designed and developed by 37 aerospace engineering students with the help of 10 of their teachers. Additionally, all the students and teachers are from the Madras Institute of Technology, the alma mater of former President and rocket scientist A P J Abdul Kalam (who incidentally also happens to be the father of the Indian nuclear program).
“This is the first time we are launching a satellite made by students and the idea is to motivate the younger generation to work for India’s space missions,” -ISRO’s chief spokesperson S Satish .
The satellite will operate in the low earth orbit at an altitude between 600 and 800 km (375 -500 miles). It is equipped with a “store and forward” payload and the data will be received both at the Chennai tech university as well as Pune University. The satellite will mainly be used for amateur communication purposes, providing students with a hands-on experience about space sciences and technology.
The whole project cost under $1.12 million, and the technical information about the satellite can be found here.
Both America and India realize that investment in establishing technological leadership is paramount for the growth and sucess of their countries. And investment in space technologies always pays back manifold.
Filed under: Science, India, ISRO, NASA, Obama, Satellite, Science, Technology
