Online Younglings program Aug-2020
Aug 31, 2020
This blog is written by Preetham R, Grade-11, from Inventure Academy. It’s about his experience on our ‘Online Younglings’ program for High school students.
I joined the TeamIndus Online Younglings program because I had always wanted to get a glimpse into the inner workings of a space organization. Space is a field full of infinite possibilities for the future of humanity, so when I heard about the Younglings program, I registered for it in a matter of minutes.
The Younglings program was an extensive overview of the primary components of a space mission, with a specific focus on the ECA lunar rover built by TeamIndus. The program was split into eight sessions on each component of the mission, which were conducted by actual TeamIndus engineers.
The mentors had put in a lot of effort into arranging their sessions and took us through intricate topics in an enlightening and interactive style.
Over these eight sessions, I got to learn many new skills. I plotted the trajectory of a launch using official NASA mission design software, which is used in famous missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This was also the first time I used an Arduino, albeit on a virtual simulation. I also learnt the basics of MATLAB, a programming language widely used in scientific and technical computing. MATLAB is different from most programming languages because it is based on matrices rather than primitive data types.
We also gained a lot of knowledge on many aerospace topics. We learnt about the history of aerospace, from the formulation of the rocket equation over a century ago to the Perseverance mission launched in July. We learnt about the considerations that go into choosing an orbit for a satellite. We got to know about the special electronics that go into a spacecraft and the challenges in building them to withstand both super-high and super-low temperatures. We learnt about the principles of aviation and the different types of jet engines. We also learnt about satellite communication and the different bands of radio waves.
Our mentors also showed us actual videos and photos of the rover and lander prototypes, describing their unique features and the structural tests conducted on them. The hard work that had gone into building such an intricate device was very inspiring.
Through the Younglings program, I learnt a lot about space exploration and understood the work that goes into a space mission. My experience with the Younglings program was truly wonderful and I hope to learn more in the future.
You can contact us at moonshot@teamindusfoundation.org for further details on the Younglings program.
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