India again broke a global space record by launching world’s lightest satellite weighing 64 grams, called Kalamsat, developed by 18-year-old Tamil Nadu student Rifath Sharook and his team.
Named after former Indian President, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Azad, Kalamsat was the only Indian payload in the mission. A NASA sounding rocket flew the tiny satellite, and the lift-off was from the space agency’s Wallop Island around 3 PM (IST).
In conversation with Mission Director, Srimathy Kesan, she said that the total flight time of Rocket was 240 minutes and Kalamsat got separated from the rocket in 125 minutes after lift-off. While learning about the satellite’s post-launch, we also came to know that it fell into the sea. After recovering, NASA will send it back to the team for decoding the data.
Specification of the “Tiny Satellite”
- It can be held in one’s palm as it is 3.8cm cube.
- The structure is 3D printed with reinforced carbon fiber polymer.
- It is equipped with a nano Geiger-Muller for measuring radiations in the space.
The incredible achievement makes us believe that Space is not unreachable and has no boundaries, therefore, let us all do research and conquer the Mars soon.