Kashmiri youth’s astronomy projects get NASA’s approval

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Srinagar, Feb 6, 2014: A Kashmiri youth from a remote village of the Valley has won approval for two of his projects from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in the United States.

Asif Ali, who comes from a humble background from a village in Mattan area of south Kashmir district, Anantnag, is studying astronomy at Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Kerala, a defence spokesman said here.

The two projects that Ali will work on include those on estimation of asteroids and the effect of gamma ray emissions.

"NASA is supporting his project works and accepting his research idea as a major leap forward in his career," the spokesman said.

Ali, who has done BTech from IIST and is currently doing MS in astronomy from the same college, will be headed to NASA soon to start work on his projects.

"I will be flying to NASA, US, soon to start my project work. After I return, I have some more projects in my mind that would cater to telecommunication problems faced by our state in particular and India in general," he said.

Ali is an alumnus of Army Goodwill School at Aishmuqam in Anantnag district and has done his higher studies at Government Higher Secondary School in his native area.
His father retired as an officer from the Animal Husbandry Department and his mother is a housewife.

"I have not been to elite schools of towns and cities. I dreamt of making big in life while studying at my native place in a remote area. However, to fulfil my aspirations, I went to a good college in Kerala under the guidance of brilliant mentors. I worked hard. My core interest was always astronomy," he said.

His achievement was recently acknowledged by the Army, which felicitated him in the presence of engineering students in Anantnag, the spokesman said.