Indian teen Rifath Shaarook designed World’s lightest satellite; Everything you need to know about KalamSat
New Delhi : Indians are all filled with talent. Right from small kids to the oldest generation, all have some skill or the other. And they making India proud of all their achievements and contributions. Another name is added to that list i:e: Rifath Shaarook.
Rifath Shaarook has designed and made World’s lightest satellite. Also it is due for launch in June at NASA Facilty. The device build by Rifath is of 64 gram. It is made up of 3D printed carbon fibre. This device was awarded as the winning entry in Cubes in Space, a design contest for young investors. This event is being organized by education company idoodle and has backing from NASA and the Colorado Space Grant Consortium.
The device is named KalamSat. Rifath has named it after former Indian President Abdul Kalam. The device will be launched from NASA’S wallops Island Facility in the US in next month. For the 12 minutes of the flight, the device will be operating in micro-gravity environment.
Rifath is a lead scientist at an education organistation Space Kidz India based in Chennai. We designed it completely from scratch.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 main challenge was to design an experiment to be flown to space which would fit into a four-metre cube weighing 64 grams”, Rifath said.
Rifath is from a small village in Tamil Nadu. She has done wonders in the past as well. She has previously built a helium weather balloon for a competition for young scientists. And she did this when she was just 15 years old.
Shaarook, who also invented a helium weather balloon when he was 15, is the lead scientist at Space Kids India. The Chennai-based organization, which sponsored his submission, promotes science education for Indian children and teens.
His project was selected in NASA’s Cubes in Space challenge. The KalamSat is not the teenager’s first invention who also built a helium weather balloon, as a part of nationwide competition for young scientists.
