Tata Group patriarch and interim Chairman, Ratan Tata on Tuesday flagged off “Moonshot Wheels”, a mobile science exhibition bus that will traverse 11 states across the country showcasing models of lander, rover and a spacecraft of TeamIndus, a space start-up bracing to launch its lunar mission this year-end.
TeamIndus Foundation is the CSR arm of TeamIndus, the only Indian team competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE of USD 25 million that requires privately funded teams to land their spacecraft on the surface of the moon, travel 500 metres and broadcast high definition video,images and data back to Earth.
TeamIndus is among five teams competing in the Google Lunar XPRIZE — a global competition challenging privately-funded teams to land a spacecraft on the moon by December 2017.
The company, using the bus aptly titled Moonshot Wheels comes equipped with advanced tools and will traverse 11 Indian states covering 12500 kms in 12 months.
The bus is said to carry out 16 curate science experiments including live satellite tracking, Moon rover, Spacecraft scaled model and also showcase an experience zone, which will simulate space activities in small enclosure and inspire kids.
While the programme is curated and administered by TeamIndus Foundation, its on-ground implementation is by Agastya International Foundation. The bus, which was flagged off by Ratan Tata on Tuesday, is expected to impact over 36,000 students in government schools.
Tata, Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (Flipkart) and Venu Srinivasan (TVS Group), K Kasturirangan (former ISRO chief) among others are supporting TeamIndus as its advisers.
Giving details on ‘Moonshot Wheels’ initiative, Priyanka Narayan, chief functionary of the foundation, said each child will get an opportunity to experience and understand the making of a Space Mission and its underlying technologies.
Moonshot Wheels, whose aim is to spread scientific knowledge to school children in India from the grassroots.
