'This young lad from India has done it'

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC. 7. `This young lad from India has done it' is a line that 15-year-old Deepak Jagdish would often mimic standing in front of his mirror. Today, it is used by others for introducing him. And why not? He has done what no Indian could do so far. Lead a world space mission to the International Space Station aboard the Intrepid Shuttle. And that too in a short span of six days.

The fact that all this was done without even moving an inch from our own planet earth, may sound a little strange, but then, this was a `blast off' that took place at a week-long `mission ready' space training competition at `Space Camp' in Huntsville, Alabama.

And for those wanting to see the action in spite of not being at the camp, Discovery Channel will be airing an hour-long show on December 10 on the experiences of these could-be-astronauts.

A student of Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan School, Kozhikode, Deepak till a few months ago had dreamt of ruling the racing circle, but the photo of an astronaut in a space suit changed it all. He heard of the contest being organised by Discovery Channel and decided to take part.

Twelve children from different parts of the world were selected following an intensive selection programme, which included quiz contests and a 10-minute presentation on space. While the selection procedure itself varied from country to country, the one in India, said Discovery officials, was one of the toughest.

It was his presentation on `The impact of space research on quality of life on earth' that clinched this strong believer in aliens and UFOs the distinction of being the only Indian to take part in the week-long camp.

The 12 participating students from Japan, Latin America, Europe and the U.S. were divided into two teams to compete for points through a series of tests and competitions. Apart from being the commander for the first mission of his team, Deepak was the mission scientist of the second team at the camp and also designed and painted the flag that will be put up at the International Space Station.

Donning the orange space suit that he had won during the camp, Deepak, describing the experience as an exciting one, said: `I had only heard and read of space walk and feeling weightlessness, but to experience it was something else.'

But the most memorable thing about the trip for this youngster was a meeting with NASA astronaut Story Musgrave, a veteran of six space flights. And no, unlike what many of us might doubt, this Class X student has high hopes of a possible Indian invasion of space. `It would be wrong to say that India is lagging behind. We have made developments. Most of NASA's scientists are of Indian origin. I can't understand why we can't do it in our country,'' he argues.

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