Ex-NASA scientist among those tapped for new COMPACT initiative
Dr Bidushi Bhattacharya holding a model CubeSat, a miniaturised satellite, that can be built with colourful wire ribbons. Photo: Daryl Kang/TODAY
SINGAPORE — Students dreaming of building and launching a small satellite using off-the-shelf technology will now get help from someone who has been there and done that.
A scientist with the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for more than 20 years, Dr Bidushi Bhattacharya moved to Singapore last year and recently founded Bhattacharya Space Enterprises with Adjunct Associate Professor Neo Kok Beng of the National University of Singapore.
“I noticed that kids here are really interested in space and when I tell them about my NASA background, they get very excited. But, they and their parents note that there are not a lot of jobs in space technology in Singapore.
“So, after surveying the space technology ecosystem here, I (have)decided to launch my own start-up to educate kids in that area,” she said.
Dr Bhattacharya is among the first 17 partners in the Community of Pathfinders in Action (COMPACT) initiative introduced today (Sept 22) by the Ministry of Education.
COMPACT aims to have the wider community supporting learning in schools, by developing a network of expertise for schools to tap.
Now working on a programme with local schools, Dr Bhattacharya said secondary-school students will get a more hands-on experience, while students in primary school will be exposed to ideas and uses of space technology.
“You first have to educate kids about space and space technology. And then we’re going to work with the kids to come up with ideas for the use of a small satellite… After that, we’re going to choose a design and have the kids build a small satellite from off-the-shelf technology and launch it,” she said.
“In my experience, space is an easy sell. Kids get very excited about it. If you can explain to them about rockets and spaceships, and you show them images taken of other planets, images taken from the surface of Mars, they can’t help but be excited.”
