Kandula Jessie, 14, a Class 10 student of Zilla Parishad Girls High School (ZPGHS), Dhavaleshwaram, Andhra Pradesh, has achieved a great feat. His father is a carpenter. Actually, JC has been selected for Mission Shaktisat.
Kandula Jessie, 14, a Class 10 student of Zilla Parishad Girls High School (ZPGHS), Dhavaleshwaram, Andhra Pradesh, has achieved a great feat. His father is a carpenter. Actually, JC has been selected for Mission Shaktisat. This is the world’s first all-girls global lunar CubeSat mission, in which only girl students are participating. JC was selected after tough competition. About 12,000 girl students from 108 countries had registered for this program. Out of these, only 20 girl students from India were finally selected and Jessie is the only student from Andhra Pradesh to be selected.
Important role of science teacher
Jessie’s inspiring journey began when her school’s Physical Science teacher, Manimala, in-charge of the Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL), recognized her interest in science and innovation. They registered Jessie for this program last year. Inspired by this opportunity, Jessie encouraged eight other female students from her school to apply.
However, after applying, the girl students came to know that the online coursework had already started. Despite this, teacher Manimala did not give up. She contacted the program coordinators and was successful in getting another chance for the girl students. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jesse completed the selection process and finally made his place in this prestigious space mission of the world. This success of Jessie is not only a matter of pride for her family and school, but it is also an inspiration for daughters across the country that despite limited resources, talent and hard work can create recognition on the global stage.
Used to do online classes daily
Kandula JC successfully completed the rigorous training program of Mission ShaktiSAT along with her 10th board exam preparation. She regularly attended online classes every day after returning from school. Till now she has completed about 50 to 60 percent of this program. Mission Shaktisat consists of about 550 sessions and 21 modules. In these, subjects like Satellite System, Propulsion, Thermodynamics and Space Technology are taught. Jessie said that these subjects were quite challenging for her in the beginning, as they were more difficult and at a more advanced level than the school curriculum.
According to Times of India, Jessie said, “Many subjects were difficult to understand in the beginning as they were more advanced than the curriculum taught in school. But I did not give up and attended online classes regularly every day.”
improved english for interview
The selection process for Mission Shaktisat took place in several stages. It included online learning modules, one-hour interviews with scientists and program coordinators, and a one-minute video. In this video the participants had to explain the importance of Mission Shaktisat and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Since the interviews took place entirely in English with international scientists, Jessie took help from teachers and watched videos to improve her English speaking and communication skills.
Despite financial constraints, daughter did wonders
On this achievement of Kandula Jessie, her teacher Manimala said that Jessie has been one of the most active students of the school’s Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) since the beginning. He always participated enthusiastically in science related activities and competitions, due to which he has achieved great success today. According to media reports, Jessie’s mother Aruna said that due to the weak financial condition of the family, she had to transfer her daughter’s admission from a private school to a government school.
Training will be held in Delhi from 23rd August
The next phase of Mission Shaktisat will start from August 23 in New Delhi. Here the selected girl students will be given practical training and they will also participate in the National Space Day celebrations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to participate in this program. During the training, Jessie will work closely with scientists on satellite design, payload development and mission operations. The Lunar CubeSat prepared by the students is planned to be launched from Sriharikota on October 11.
Dream is to work in ISRO
Jessie said that this selection has further strengthened her dream of working in ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation). “I want to support my parents and make my teachers and school proud,” she said. Rajya Sabha MP and TDP National Vice President Sana Satish Babu also congratulated JC on his achievement. He called it a proud moment for Andhra Pradesh.
