Odisha Students Return From Space-Exposure Trip To ISRO

Twenty winners of Tata Steel’s Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS) programme from Odisha returned on Tuesday after a week-long exposure trip to the Indian Space Research Organisation’s space application centre in Ahmedabad, says a report in Firstpost.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had flagged off the students’ space exposure visit on June 3.

YATS, an initiative for high school students in Odisha, is organised in association with Pathani Samanta Planetarium, under the state’s science and technology department.

The theme for 2018-19 was “Imagine Space Exploration, 50 Years From Now” and included an open quiz for students from classes 6-10 and an essay competition for students from classes 9-10.

The top two entries from each district were invited to a grand finale in December 2018. The winning group of 12 girls and 8 boys from across Odisha visited various laboratories of the Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad and interacted with the scientists.

They also visited the Physical Research Laboratory and interacted with scientists there.

They were given an opportunity to learn about various aspects of ISRO’s operations and the Indian space programme’s evolution. The students also visited Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad.