Odisha's young astronomers on ISRO expedition

With an objective of providing world class exposure to budding astronomer talents of Odisha, Chief Secretary J K Mohapatra today flagged off their expedition to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Bengaluru.
The duration of the expedition is 8 days from May 2 to May 9, official sources said the participants were selected through a rigorous three tier screening process.
"I congratulate you all for the passion and excellence which you have displayed in course of this long screening test, and, wish that you all remain committed to science and scientific research," Mohapatra said to the students.
He said Odisha has now got world class science institutes and the opportunities for science education is also available the state, as basic science is being brought to focus in higher education.

The Chief Secretary asked Pathani Samanta Planetarium authorities to present the authenticated translation copies of the Sidhanta Darpana of the great astronomer Mahamohapadhyay Chandra Sekhara Singhsamanta Harichandan Mohapatra (adorably known as Pathani Samanta) to the young talents who have been selected for the exposure visit.
Exposure visits for young talents is being organized under joint collaboration of Pathani Samanta Planetarium and Tata Steel from 2007. The present batch is the 9th in the series in which top 20 students have been selected through a three tier screening process.

This year around 1000 school students across the state participated in three different stages at 8 zones like Belpahar, Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Joda, Jajpur, Joypur, and Keonjhar. Around 100 students selected from these 8 centres were invited to state level final screening organized at Bhubaneswar on December 13, the birth anniversary of Pathani Samanta.

The theme of the competition was "Mission Mars" and the students were asked to display their models on the topic.
During the visit, the students will also be taken to the Heritage Center, Aerospace Museum of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium and Indian Institute of Space Science at Bangaluru.