[1]It was a twin global honour for aeronautical engineering students of SRM University for designing space modules as part of space innovation and exploration contests held at US and China.
Aerospace engineering students of the university, including S.M. Balakrishnan, Gautham Mahesh and Harleen Kaur Maan, won the second prize at the Heinlein Space Innovation and Exploration Contest for designing a module to clear space debris. A second team of eight students won the third prize in a space transportation design competition, organised by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation (AIAA).
Sweety Prakash, a final year aerospace engineering student said that her team had submitted a conceptual plan for Nav Kshitij Vahak, a commercial earth-to-orbit passenger space vehicle.
She said that SRM was the only team selected from India. “NASA plans to start space tourism by 2025 for which they have asked students like us to present a conceptual design for the spacecraft,” she said.
Team member Krishnamurthy V. said that their craft would take people to space orbit and back.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/space4jpgcropdisplayjpg-032