Two youngsters from Vijayawada have brought laurels to Andhra Pradesh with their success at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC)-2023 competition held in Alabama, U.S.A. between April 20 and 22.
Sai Akshara Vemuri, who has just passed the 12 th standard from Delhi Public School, and Chittineni Akarsh, a 10th standard student of KCP Siddhartha School in the city, were part of the six-member team from India that won the Social Media Award. The team was selected for the challenge by Young Tinker Foundation.
The duo was felicitated by Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society (APNRTS) president and Adviser to the government Medapati S. Venkat and CEO P. Hemalatha Rao at the APNRTS office at Tadepalli on May 3 (Wednesday).
Mr. Venkat said that the APNRTS had helped the students visit government schools, interact with students and conduct the necessary research work for the rover made by the team.
The APNRTS also provided an opportunity for the students to witness the PSLV launch at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) at Sriharikota, in association with the Children Space Club.
Ms. Akshara said that their team had sent the rover’s design proposal to NASA first and they were asked to prepare a model. “Initially, we designed a 3D model and then built the rover in Bhubaneswar,” she said.
The rover made by the team is capable of traversing on a simulated Martian and Lunar terrain. Ms. Akshara was the Student Safety Officer while Mr. Akarsh was the Technical Lead of the team.
