Bangalore Students NASA Experience

DiscoverBangalore is pleased to bring a special feature on the NASA experience of Bangalore Students, that makes every Sudent and every Bangalorean proud. Discover Bangalore commends their achievements and draws attention of the GEN Y’s experiences to DiscoverBangalore visitors and the World. Our Special Correspondent Githa U Badikillaya interacts with these "Rocket Age "students and the incredible Teacher who made all these possible.

Very much in the news, seventy students of the Innisfree School are creating waves. A sample of the winning combination of grit, conviction, passion and fervour of excelling from among 700 (16/17 year olds) participants across the world in the recently concluded training camp at the NASA’s US Space and Rocket Centre at Huntsville, Alabama, USA, was discernable as I interacted with some of them. This centre is the most comprehensive US manned space flight hardware museums in the world with a spacedome theatre, rocket park, shuttle park and educator resource centre. Just back from attending a week long camp in May 2008, they exude enough confidence to press the buttons of a space ship to orbit them to Space. Sunita Williams watch out!!!!

“India has to be a part of the new space infrastructure effort by developing an integrated national space mission plan to handle the technology denial and sanctions of the West. The space market will grow and there will be a demand for space scientists. If the world shrinks it will be due to space scientists, who bring nations and humanity closer”. Said President APJ Kalam, after dedicating the Insat 4-B satellite to the nation recently at Hassan. Our Gen Y has definitely arrived, adding one more flower to Bangalore’s enticing bouquet of knowledge skills. A small step in that direction?

Sinduja Dutta, (10th std), was adjudged the best trainee. She says “Basically there were 2 training areas-Space camp with simulations and the training camp. The parameters judged were in the areas of team spirit, volunteering, time management, interaction, attentiveness and concentration. It was shocking when my name was announced. It was a good feeling that an Indian student excelled. This opportunity brought out my latent talents”.

Vishnu Srivatsav’s team bagged the “Outstanding Team Award” – “We were in groups of 13 each. Each one’s idea was sought that resulted in our jelling and bonding well with fun learning. The space camp activities included a mock Space mission with commanders, mission specialists, controllers etc that ensures a successful mission”.

Varun Baliga, (9th std), his team Europa, of Area 51, won the Best Patch Award. His team’s creativity of the Jupiter’s moon depicting a moon with a rocket taking off with all the team members’ name on it won appreciation. “I am good at drawing though I am not creative but I can implement ideas. I want to major in Physics. I’d like to attend the next level training programs” he declares.

It was a life time experience-- an unforgettable experience that will always remain a part of their lives. Thanks to one of the Physics teacher Ms.Jyothi Venkatesh, with 17 years of teaching experience, who was the lucky 97, selected from among 2000 participants in a world wide on line competition in Dec 2005. In this endeavour the support from her colleagues and the principal was tremendous. The only Bangalorean she attended the 2 week hectic program along with 5 other Indian teachers.

Elaborating Jyothi adds “We learnt the various physics principles and their application by way of game activities especially in Math and geography, unlike the present theoretical way of teaching. We knew many of the principles unlike the others and I won 2 prizes too. The training has given me a new perspective in the way i think adding a new dimension to my teaching.” Her article about the methodology of teaching in the school won the best entry prize. She got an invite to bring her students for a week long training schedule. “I implemented all that was taught there at the school, recording the same and this helped me to get an entry again by a competition for the 3 week advanced trainers training program in June 2008.

“The American students were boisterous, carefree and curious about everything Indian. Noise announced their arrival. They worked very well in the team and were very interested in sports. I interacted with a few nationalities. I also liked the Hawaiian and Spanish students. The Hawaiians were very frank and sure about themselves”-sums up Vikas.

Varsha, speaking of the bland food and peculiar weather that blew hot, cold and rainy had to make the food Asian with pepper and salt. They gorged on varieties of luscious fruits and butter sandwiches. Sleeping on bunker beds they could only dream of Huntsville, the small quiet town with oh! so beautiful houses and polite smiling residents. Sindhuja waiting for her turn to share something exhilarating tells me that she was chosen for the advanced training camp and went scuba diving to give the adventurous few, a feel of an astronaut’s weightlessness. “It was the first time that I went so deep in a 24 feet deep tank .In this Extra Duration Machine (EDM), swimming for 6 hours we did a 3D pyramid, played with a 100 pound ball, and launched a rocket. It was Neutral buoyancy of the astronauts at take off.

At the training camp, the platforms gave the children dressed in blue and orange coloured space suits an idea of the importance and implementation of co ordination, team spirit, trust, understanding the rules, use of logic, briefings on space technologies, missions, introductions to sophisticated equipments that instruct operational functions of space ships, while not letting go their thinking caps.

School administrator and Group Leader, Sudheer Kamat was very impressed with the training schedules, the commitment and the vision of the CEO and the International vice President of the centre. “The application of math and science and the inculcation of team building, group dynamics, problem solving are skills lacking in our education system that tends to discount the need for individual functioning. Taught in a fun environment they learn many a useful thing and also unlearn some negative attributes”. He has accepted their invite to be the space camp ambassador in India. He hopes to involve educators and Corporates. Corporate India today spends 2-3 years retraining the new recruits to match and reach global standards.

Founder Principal Mrs.Bolar encourages and inculcates in her students the love and interest for pure sciences and this NASA training program was a boon in kindling that interest. “My students, now I find are eager to pursue careers in space and technology-astro physics, aero space engineering etc. I am told that American children dream to be trained at the space centre, but our children are fortunate in getting such an opportunity from the 8, 9 and 10th standards itself. These children interacted with Ravish Malhotra the 2nd Indian astronaut and lots of questions were answered by him, being able to relate to him”.

* The advanced Space academy programme is college accredited and participants earn one hour freshman level credit from UAH
* Cost- $599,includes food, stay, materials, activities etc
* Log on to http://www.spacecamp.com for further information