The Indian team of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) of the Vellore Institute of Technology, which comprised an Odia student, has secured the second position in the International CanSat competition held at Tarleton State University, Texas.
The CanSat, organised by Americal space organisaitons like the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), American Astronautical Society (AAS) and NASA, is a design, build, launch competition composed of two primary components, a science vehicle and a re-entry container, that protects the vehicle during ascent, near apogee deployment and initial re-entry/descent.
The 2017 mission simulates a solar powered sensor payload travelling through a planetary atmosphere sampling the atmospheric composition during flight.
This year, a total of 87 teams participated in the competition out of which 40 were selected to launch their CanSat. The SEDS- VIT team performed exceptionally and secured launch score of 89.65 per cent and an overall score of 90.69 per cent.
The team consisted of 10 highly motivated engineering students namely Akshay Joshi, G Pranav Naidu, Ases Akas Mishra, R Vig, M Roshan, K Yash, A Gupta, D Bajaj, KP Andey and M Joshi who spent 10 months in the design and build process.