Balasore: Bringing laurels to the State, 9-year-old Dikshya Gupta of Balasore district has been selected for a nine-day tour to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Gupta will attend International Space Science Conference to be organized by NASA IN November this year. She will leave for NASA November 8.
Dikshya said discussions and various competitions with space astronauts will be held during the international conference. Students to be shortlisted in top five ranks will have an opportunity to study in NASA free of cost.
Student of St Vincent’s Convent School, Balasore had participated in an online essay competition ‘If I happen to meet an alien in Mars’ conducted by Go4Guru. Students of six countries had participated in the essay competition. Qualifying the test, Dikshya was selected for a trip to NASA.
Earlier, Sumit Kumar Sahu, a Class-IX student of Sri Satyasai Bidya Vihar from Baripada in Mayurbhanj district had done the state as well as the country proud after he was selected to work as data scientist at the prestigious National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Sumit’s father Sanjib works as an electrical engineer in Saudi Arabia while his mother is a housewife. Now, he receives online coaching from a Bhubaneswar-based coaching centre Saturdays and Sundays.
He had appeared for a NASA entrance test online with the help of the coaching centre in July and stood second at the state level, but got first position at the all-India level August 12. He got second position at the international level August 31. “Basically, I appeared for tests in Mathematics, Science and Computers,” Sumit said.
But NASA has laid some conditions to ensure a job for him. Sumit must clear the matriculation exam with 61 per cent or more. From the current academic year, NASA will offer scholarship for Sumit.
NASA has also said that it would take the responsibility of his education at Texila American University if he passes out with that percentage of mark. At the same time, he will be working as a data scientist at NASA.
Sumit is now on cloud nine. “This news has changed my life. My teachers and parents are my inspiration,” he beamed.
PNN
