22 Jul 2010|Noida | Amity University Campus, Sector-125 Noida
Students of Amity International School interact with Prof. Nicollier, Swiss Astronaut through Video Conferencing
It was a dream come true for 16 students of Amity International School in Noida and Mayur Vihar when they interacted with Prof. Nicollier, Swiss Astronaut through Video Conferencing at Amity Campus, Sector- 125, Noida
The astronaut familiarized the students with the requisites of living, working and traveling in Space and Solar Impulse. He informed students about “International Space Centre” which is the largest mission in space, started in 1998.Under this project, 16 countries are carrying out research to explore the properties of space. The astronaut also touched upon Mars mission and shared that it will take over eight months to reach Mars from Earth.
The session concluded with an interactive Question and Answer round in which students raised a volley of questions. One of the curious student asked Prof. Nicollier about the source of power that will be used for sending space crafts to Mars, to which he replied “ Solar Power Source” because of the distance factor.
On being asked about the effect of low gravity on humans while on Mars, Prof. said, “ Mars has 1/3rd gravity as compared to earth, which can result in some physiological problems in humans. Research is going on in this area but since no human has gone to Mars so far therefore, nothing can be said with surety.”
When posed a question as to how much time is required for designing a settlement for 4-5 astronauts in Mars, Prof. Nicollier responded that six- eight months are needed for designing such a settlement.
Also present during the Video- Conferencing were Dr. (Mrs.) Amita Chauhan- Chairperson, Amity International Schools, Dr Celio- Science Counselor, Swiss Embassy, Ms Sarah Berry, Project Incharge, Swiss Embassy, Jyoti Arora-Head, Amity Educational Resource Centre, Amity Group of Schools and three Physics teachers from Amity International Schools.