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Student dreams of cutting weight of spacecraft

Last Updated 08 May 2019, 19:37 IST

Five books on physics and one on space technology, devising solutions for reducing the weight of spacecraft, and dreams of bringing space science within the reach of common man: These are not the accomplishments and obsessions of a veteran space scientist but of 24-year old Sanjay Lakshminarayana.

A mechanical graduate from Rajasthan Institute of Technology, Lakshminarayana’s life revolves around space and spacecraft.

During his graduation, Sanjay worked on creating a model spacecraft for his college’s open day project. As he worked on the model, each time he focused on reducing the weight of the spacecraft, which he was successful in bringing down to 40%.

“It can still be reduced. Weight of the spacecraft is bringing down the duration of the space missions,” Sanjay told DH.

Sanjay also presented his idea with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2015, when the organisation was working on its Mars spacecraft.

Apart from that, Sanjay said he had presented a paper at NASA for the “establishment of fuel stations in various other orbits”. “So that the spacecraft sent on a mission need not to come back to the launch pad. When the weight is reduced, the establishment of the fuel station in different orbits helps the spacecraft to be in space for more time,” he said.

Recently, Sanjay penned the book ‘Space Exploration’ in order to introduce space science to common man. “Today, space science has been considered as a fairy tale. My intention is to bring it within the reach of common man like any other subject. In my first book on Space Exploration, I have introduced the objects near Earth,” he said.

The budding scientist, who is the lone son of a single mother, will soon begin his Masters in Aerospace Engineering at a foreign varsity.

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(Published 08 May 2019, 19:23 IST)

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