Seven students from the city who were among the 320 selected from 45 countries to be part of a two-week intensive leadership programme hosted by the US Space and Rocket Centre (USSRC) in Huntsville, Alabama, shared their experiences.

Interacting with reporters on Friday, Nizam Kurile Thomas, student of Whitefield Global School who was part of the programme said: “I was part of the flight simulation session wherein I experienced four times the gravitational force of the earth. I also met my role model, Robert Lee Gibson, a former naval officer and a NASA astronaut who went on five space missions.”

“We were also given aviation challenges which we attempted on life-like simulators. We got to play the role of the flight crew in Grumman F-14 Tomcat fighter jet which was an incredible experience,” Thomas added.

‘Memorable’
Naomi Verghese, a student of CMR National PU college and a participant said, “Standing next to a rocket, the step-wise demonstration of rocket-building and moon-walking were my most memorable experiences.”
Arjun Nair from Kumaran PU college said, “I experienced zero-gravity for the first time in life. This for me was the best part of the programme.”

‘Best part’
“The best part of the programme for all of us was to be able to share our culture and learning with students from countries like Scotland, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia, US and Canada,” said Anusha Jain from Jain College.

Seventeen students from India were selected for the programme. The students got an opportunity to train like an astronaut.

The students were supported by Honeywell to be a part for the programme.