18-year-old student from Tamil Nadu designs world's lightest satellite

Rifath Shaarook is eighteen years old. He is the lead scientist who built the lightest satellite. It has been selected by NASA to be flown into space. 

The mere 64 grams weighing satellite named KalamSat will be launched by NASA on 21 June from Wallop Island, according to a report by The Times of India. It is said to be the first time ever that an experiment by an Indian student will be sent into the space,

His experiment has been selected in the Cubes in Space contest organised by NASA and IDoodle learning. The contest saw around 86,000 designs from 57 countries. The satellite is built of carbon fibre using 3D printing. The report adds that the key role is to demonstrate the performance of the 3D printed carbon fibre.

The complete mission time will be 240 minutes and the satellite will be in sub-orbital spaceflight for 12 minutes before it lands back into the ocean. This satellite will help capture the temperature, radiation. 

Shaarook is the 'lead scientist' at Chennai-based Space Kidz India that encourages aspiring space students. Sharook, who lost his father at a young age is studying at Crescent Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Pallapatti. 

Images: Facebook/Rifath Shaarook/The Hindu