School students are always told to aim for the sky in their life. But it is not often that the schools provide an opportunity for the students to do so.
However, a group of 20 students from Lisieux Matriculation Higher Secondary School got the opportunity to do so .
For, they got the opportunity of a lifetime to train under the astronaut-training programme at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the American agency that is at the forefront of space exploration.
The students, who were from Classes IX to XI, were taken on an educational field visit to the United States between September 23 and October 5, of which the students spent four days at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Not merely a sight-seeing trip, the students were given tasks such as building rovers, a small robotic device used for tasks like exploring the surface of moon and mars.
Further, the students also built miniature rockets powered by electric motors, says Aditya, one of the students.
Scuba diving
Apart from these technical experiences, the students also underwent scuba diving at a tank, which was used by the astronauts to train themselves for working in zero-gravity environment of space, says A. Amirthvarshan of class XI.
“We explored the launching and landing facilities for space shuttles and the shuttle and robots manufacturing units. We were also given an opportunity to operate the shuttle launch simulator. They showed us models made of the mars and moon soil and rocks. The experience was, literally and otherwise, out of the world,” he adds.
“Students should get a chance to not just have fun but also explore innovative prospects during educational trips,” says school Principal Fr. Philips Pontheckan.
Students also visited Washington D.C., the Niagara Falls, Pennsylvania and New York.
