Assam government to take meritorious students on 12-day tour to NASA

Assam government will take 10 meritorious students on a 12-day educational visit to the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The 'Deba Kumar Bora Memorial NASA Visit 2014' will sponsor visits of first three toppers of 10th standard and first position holder of 12th standard in each of Arts, Science and Commerce streams, an official release said.

"Our vision is to groom a well-educated and a creative generation of students who would be the leaders of tomorrow in all walks of life including the world of science and technology," it added.

The third edition of the annual visit, which was started in 2012, to NASA next month will provide unique opportunity for the students as they would get exposure to the advances in space science and astronomy.

"They would understand various aspects of space and astronomy in simulated environment, including astronaut training, conduct space experiments with NASA educators, understand space shuttle mission control, meet NASA scientists and directly interact with the NASA astronauts and generate awareness about their world and the challenges of space exploration, including the 'unknown'," the release said.

During the tour, the students would be taken to John F Kennedy Space Centre, University of Florida, AT&T Bell laboratory, Benz manufacturing factory, and visit Washington and New York cities.

"Assam is perhaps the pioneer in the country where the students are being taken on such a unique, once in a lifetime educational tour to NASA under complete government funding," the statement said.