New Delhi: At a age when most of the kids are confused about life in general, 16-year-old Aryan Mishra is busy scanning the night sky, discovering asteroids.
At 14, Aryan with his partner Keerti Vardhan Kukreti discovered a near-Earth asteroid in a nationwide campaign.
Aryan’s discovery has been designated as 2014 00372. Now a student of class 11 in Delhi’s Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Aryan is busy balancing school, tuitions and the occasional enquiring journalist.
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids or comets with sizes ranging from mere meters to tens of kilometres. Their orbits come close to that of the Earth which can potentially collide with us at some point in the future. The asteroid discovered by Aryan and his partner was under All India Asteroid Search Campaign in association with International Astronomical Search Collaboration in 2014.
News18’s Akshata Kumbar sat down with the 16-year-old space enthusiast to find out more about his interests and future goals.
Here is the complete interview with the young prodigy:
How did you build your interest in space?
ARYAN: It all started when I saw Saturn from the telescope, it was in 2011 and I was 11 years old at that time. So when I saw Saturn for the first time I realised that I want to choose my career according to my passion and not by what my friends were doing and what my family wanted me to pursue. So Saturn’s majestic rings inspired me to look up. This is where I began my journey to space. And then I decided to be an astronaut, I want to go in space.
Image courtesy: Aryan Mishra's Facebook page
Who is your role model?
ARYAN: My role model is the late astronaut Kalpana Chawla. She has not only taught me how to be passionate and determined but also how to be a good human being. I remember one incident from one event, her father said that Kalpana used to study in US, work in one of the NASA centres and save money. Kalpana used the money to either fund her tuition or to help other friends of hers who couldn’t afford it. She had no furniture in her house. Her father also shared that at the age of six girls used to play with Barbie dolls but Kalpana used to make sketches of aircraft. She is not only an inspiration for me but also for the billions of kids all around the world. Rakesh Sharma and Sunita Williams are also my role models.
Image courtesy: Aryan Mishra's Facebook page
What are your future goals?
ARYAN: Whenever I try to climb, every time I fall and every time I cry. So, I have decided I want to be in Space because ‘astronauts don’t fall and they don’t cry’. I want to become an astronaut, that’s my dream from the time I started studying astronomy.
How do you feel when students look up to you as an inspiration?
ARYAN: It feels amazing when kids consider me as their role model and inspiration. When someone is doing good we should consider him/her as a source of inspiration because we get strength from them. Students should work hard and they should also be good in studies in school as well.
Image courtesy: Aryan Mishra's Facebook page
Can you share an experience that left a lasting impression on you?
ARYAN: Meeting Sunita Williams and Rakesh Sharma is a moment that I will cherish forever because I never thought that I will get a chance to meet them. I got this chance because of my friends.
Image courtesy: Aryan Mishra's Facebook page
Do you have a message you want to communicate to the readers?
ARYAN: Your dreams are the wings that help you to fly, go face the world and reach for the sky.