THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Narayan S A and Blessy Jaya Chandran were in that blissful mood hours before they took off for a dream mission. They, both hailing from the city, along with Rahul Joseph Cecil from Kochi and Michelle Anne George from Thiruvalla, were all geared up for, perhaps, the best moments of their lives. The foursome have already left for Singapore to attend the space camp at the Singapore Space Academy. Courtesy, Saura Yaathrika, a space training programme organised by Kerala Travels Interserve, a travel agency, for school students. The camp, one of the golden jubilee initiatives of the company, is from May 30 to June 3.It is the first time that Indian students have been chosen for the space camp. For Blessy, who has completed her Plus II from Government GHS, Pattom, Kalpana Chawla has been the ultimate inspiration. “She has written in her autobiography, why can’t girls also venture out into space travel. Though I was worried about the expenses since I hail from a middle class family, now I am more focused. Coming up close with those celestial bodies and stars which you gazed at in wonder as a child would be really awesome,” said Blessy, daughter of Chandran, a pastor, and Jaya, a nurse. An NCC flying cadet, she is the recipient of the Kalpana Chawla Scholarship instituted for a girl student of a government school in the State. All her expenses towards the camp are being met by Kerala Travels Interserve. “It was the Chandrayaan mission that ignited my interest in space science and I would really love to become an aeronautical engineer,” Narayan, a Class IX student at St Thomas Residential School, said. “There would be a diving session which would be done in zero gravity. After having seen the videos of the camps of previous years, I am very much excited,” said Narayan, son of Anil Radhakrishnan, a journalist, and Sindhu S S. The space training camp will be conducted by ex-NASA engineers, astronauts, astrophysicists and space scientists. The students will learn about life as an astronaut, the challenges in space environment, basic rocketry, robotic navigation, orbits etc. The students can continue to seek guidance from the trainers for their future course of study. At the end of the camp, students will be given a certificate and a ‘wing badge’. The students, who were selected for the camp after a competitive exam and interview, were felicitated by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy the other day. “Through Saura Yaathrika, young students from Kerala are encouraged to dream big and reach for the stars. It is also our first step towards realising the dream of space tourism,” said K C Chandrahasan, Managing Director of Kerala Travels. Dr D S Rane, former ISRO Director, is the Saura Yaathrika Project consultant. Kerala Travels, founded in 1959 by Col G V Raja of the Travancore royal family and P G C Pillai, is one of the founder members of Interserve Travel Pvt Ltd, a consortium of travel and tourism companies. It has its presence in 30 countries and Chandrahasan is its present chairman. The next Saura Yaathrika programme will be announced soon. For details, log on to www.keralatravels.in.
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