Teen builds worlds lightest satellite
An Indian teenager has built what is thought could be the worlds lightest satellite, which will be put into orbit at a Nasa facility in the US in June.
Rifath Shaarooks 64-gramme device was selected as the winner in a competition co-sponsored by Nasa. The 18-year-old says its main purpose was to demonstrate the performance of 3-D printed carbon fibre. Rifath told local media his invention will go on a four-hour mission for a sub-orbital flight.
During that time, the lightweight satellite will operate for around 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment of space.We designed it completely from scratch, he said. It will have a new kind of on-board computer and eight indigenous built-in sensors to measure acceleration, rotation and the magnetosphere of the earth.
The satellite has been named KalamSat after former Indian president Abdul Kalam, a pioneer for the countrys aeronautical science ambitions. His project was selected in a challenge called Cubes in Space, organised by NASA and education company idoodle.
Newcomer scientist Rifath comes from a small town in Tamil Nadu and now works as lead scientist at Chennai-based Space Kidz India, an organisation promoting science and education for Indian children and teenagers. The KalamSat is not his first invention: at the age of 15, he built a helium weather balloon as a part of nationwide competition for young scientists.
Source: BBC
