Date:07/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/01/07/stories/2007010700351800.htm

National

Interacting with an astronaut

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Sunita Williams, the Indian-American astronaut now in space on a mission from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, will interact with a team of 12 students and two teachers from the Apeejay School, Jalandhar, through a video conference link at the U.S. Embassy here on Wednesday.

The students got the opportunity after winning the International Space Settlement Design Competition at NASA's Johnson Space Centre in July 2006.

They were given 42 hours to propose the design, development and operation of a space settlement for 10,000 people on Mars. They had made the 35-minute presentation before a panel of judges from NASA and faced a 15-minute rebuttal in which the technicalities of their proposal were tested.

Through the link, the students will get a visual experience of the spacecraft and gadgets on board.