Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today flagged off the exposure visit of the top twenty budding astronomers of the state to Satellite Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Bengaluru.
The promising youngsters were selected through a series of tests of Young Astronomer Talent Search (YATS) 2015-16, organised by Tata Steel in collaboration with Pathani Samanta Planetarium, a company release said.
Congratulating the students and conveying his best wishes, Patnaik expressed the hope that the young talents would utilise this visit to enhance their knowledge.
He also appreciated the efforts of Pathani Samanta Planetarium and Tata Steel for successfully organising the Young Astronomer Talent Search programme.
In addition to visiting the facilities at the Satellite Centre of ISRO, the students would have the rare opportunity of interacting with some of the top space scientists of the country during their visit.
The Bengaluru centre of ISRO is engaged in developing satellite technology and implementation of satellite systems for scientific, technological and application missions, it said.
With an aim to popularise the excellent contributions of legendary astronomer of Odisha Pathani Samanta, YATS is being organised since 2007 to identify and encourage young talents from high school students of the state in the field of astronomy and space science, the release said.
To provide world class exposure to young talents of Odisha, every year 20 winners of YATS, selected through three levels tests from among students from class VIII to X across the state, are sent to different centres of ISRO.
The students not only get first-hand experience of visiting the renowned ISRO Satellite Centre, but also have opportunities to visit other important centres of science in the city and interact with the senior scientists there, the release added.
