Education
NIT Hamirpur students shine in NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024 with innovative satellite data project
Students develop WhatsApp-based satellite data solution; project selected from 10,000 submissions in NASA hackathon,
A team of B.Tech students from the Department of Physics and Photonics Sciences, NIT Hamirpur has gained international recognition by excelling in the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2024. Competing with 10,000 submissions from over 150 countries, the project created by Girish Gaurav Sharma, Aarushi Saini, Ajay Mokta and Shabd Patel was selected for the next stage of the world’s largest public hackathon.
The students developed an innovative solution to streamline the transmission of satellite data. Their project enables the delivery of accurate date and time information about satellite data acquisition directly through WhatsApp. This user-friendly feature aims to improve access to data for researchers and scientists, as well as enhance the accuracy of information obtained from NASA’s LandSat programme and the European Space Agency’s Sentinel satellites.
By integrating this feature into everyday communication platforms like WhatsApp, the students’ solution not only increases access but also simplifies data distribution for scientific research purposes. This could be a game-changer for various research fields that rely on timely and accurate satellite information.
The NASA Space Apps Challenge is an internationally renowned hackathon, organised in collaboration with leading global space agencies such as the European Space Agency (ESA), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). It challenges participants to develop creative technological solutions to global problems.
This year’s competition highlighted the creativity and innovative spirit of participants like the NIT Hamirpur team, whose project has the potential to contribute significantly to scientific progress. Their achievement is a matter of pride not only for their institution but also for India, as the country’s young engineers continue to shine on the global stage.
