Hyderabad: OU students to get direct live communication link to ISRO researchers in Antarctica

The initiative is being launched as part of the skill development programmes in space technologies, which will be soon rolled out by the university in collaboration with the ISRO-National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)

Hyderabad: Imagine sitting in a classroom and receiving first hand information about scientific exploration and instruments from a team of ISRO scientists who are thousands of kilometers away in Antarctica.

This will soon become reality for students of the Osmania University (OU), who will be engaging directly with scientific researchers.

The OU will soon get a direct live communication link to Antarctica, where Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are holding critical research on climate change among other areas.

The initiative is being launched as part of the skill development programmes in space technologies, which will be soon rolled out by the university in collaboration with the ISRO-National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).

This experience has been designed by the OU and ISRO to enhance students’ understanding of the real-world scientific challenges besides creating awareness on the instruments used in the exploration and its maintenance.

The ISRO established its Antarctica Ground Station for Earth Observation Satellites at Bharati Station, Larsemann Hills, Antarctica in 2013, for receiving Indian remote sensing satellite data from different satellites and transferring the same to NRSC here.

“This will be first of kind live interaction for students directly from Antarctica. Students can get to know climate conditions, research work among other details straight from the site as part of the skill development course work. This is being made possible through an MoU with the ISRO, which will be shortly signed by the OU,” said Perumalla Naveen Kumar, professor at Department of ECE and Director, OU Infrastructure and Estate, who is overseeing the MoU.

According to the university authorities, India has conducted several research works, including atmospheric ozone concentrations, geophysical studies, ice-core drilling, biological and wildlife studies in Antarctica.

Apart from enabling live interaction with the scientists in Antarctica, the MoU will aid the university to launch skill development programmes on space-based navigation, maintenance of space instruments and mission planning among others.

These skill development programmes being developed with inputs from the ISRO scientists will be open to students from diploma, engineering and undergraduate degree students in the State. These programmes, which will not make students industry ready but also aid in landing a job with the space agency.

The NRSC will also be providing high resolution photos of the OU campus, enabling the varsity to geo-fence the campus. These photos will be shared to civic authorities so as to ensure that there are no encroachments of the university’s land.