India, USA team up to find how space technology can solve environment challenges

KOLKATA: A group of students from India and USA will soon start working on a collaborative project to identify innovations originally developed for space travel that could solve environmental challenges on earth.

Over the course of a year, youths selected by Science City in Kolkata and Chabot Space & Science Centre from America will develop a series of demonstrations and activities taking inspiration from space travel innovations.

"Solar energy, water purifiers, etc, were initially made for space travel but they are already finding use in our daily lives on planet earth.

"We want to find out more such innovations which can provide solutions to our environmental and sustainability challenges we face in Kolkata and in California," Science City director Arijit Dutta Chowdhury told PTI.

The work will be overseen by an advisory board made up of local experts in the fields of space exploration, sustainable development and engineering, and shall involve a number of guest lectures and field trips.

The conclusion of the project will be a travel exchange in the summer of 2016, sharing the work with the community in Kolkata and in California, USA.

Under the project 'Hacking Space: A Student Partnership To Sustain Life on Earth' which will begin from September this year, they have invited applications from students aged between 15 and 18 years.

Altogether eight students will be selected from India and another eight from America.