“My dream is to become the first woman to step on Mars for setting up human colonies. For this, I want to join NASA or ESA as an astronaut,” said G Shriya Dinakar, a Class VIII student of National Centre for Excellence, Bangalore. She was brimming with joy after attending the International Astronauts Congress- 2007, organised by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at Hyderabad on September 28. 

Her project work paper on ‘Future of Humans on the Planet Mars’ was appreciated by the former president of India and Scientist, Dr A PJ Abdul Kalam, during the meet. “Dr Kalam called me on the dais and talked about my accomplishments during Scientist - Student Interaction,” she told Deccan Herald.

Shriya, 13, interacted with astronaut Sunita Williams, Wing Commander (Retd) Rakesh Sharma, ISRO Chairman Dr Madhavan Nair, former chairman of ISRO Dr U V Rao and directors of European Space Agency and (ESA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on the occasion.