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Rifath Sharook, Mohammed Abdul Kashif Played Lead Role in Designing World’s Lightest Satellite

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Karur, TAMIL NADU :

Rifath Sharook (Photo: Rifath’s Facebook profile)
Rifath Sharook (Photo: Rifath’s Facebook profile)

New Delhi :

On January 25, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C44) successfully injected Microsat-R and Kalamsat-V2 satellite into their designated orbits. Two young engineers who played lead role in designing and building world’s lightest satellite Kalamsat-V2 are Rifath Sharook and Mohammed Abdul Kashif.

They were part of a 12-members team of Space Kidz India- a group which trains aspiring space students. The group was being led by 18-year-old Sharook who hails from Tamil Nadu. Sharook is the youngest student of the team. Giving the credit of building the satellite, the media called him one-man army.But Sharook rejects to take credit solely.

Apart from Kashif (lead engineer), those who are in his team include Vinay S Bhardwaj (design engineer), Yagna Sai (lead technician) and Gobi Nath (biologist).

They were all working on rocket and space technology under the mentorship of Chennai-based Srimathy Kesan, who is the founder of Space Kidz India.

Sharook who hails from Tamil Nadu’s Karur is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Space Kidz India. Sharook’s father, Mohammed Farook, was also scientist. When he was in Class V, his father had left for heavenly abode. He was interested in space since his childhood.

“My dad was also a scientist. He’d do independent research on astronomy. We’d spend hours watching the space through a telescope,” Sharook was quoted by rediff.com as saying.

Talking about the Kalamasat V2, Mohammed Abdul Kashif said “We have produced a new electronic architecture for this satellite that ensured that it was lighter, smaller, more economical and consumed less energy while functioning like any other communication satellite”.

He added “There are a wide variety of uses it can be deployed for. But with this launch, we are only testing the technology and seeing how it operates”.

The satellite was 64 grams, 3.8 centimeter-cube-sized and it is world’s lightest and smallest satellite. It was made through the competition ‘Cubes in Space’ which was a collaboration between NASA and ‘I Doodle Learining’.

Muslim boy Sharook and Kashif played larger role in building the world’s lightest satellite and it was named also after a Muslim scientist A P J Abdul Kalam, who was the president of
India.

source: http://www.caravandaily.com / Caravan Daily / Home> Indian Muslim> Indian Muslims / by Caravan News / February 04th, 2019

Meet the 18-year-old from Tamil Nadu who designed the world’s lightest satellite

Amazing Feats, Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion,

PallaPatti,  TAMIL NADU :

On June 21 this year, history will be made with the launch of the world’s smallest ever satellite — KalamSat. The launch will also hold special significance for India, with 18-year-old Rifath Sharook, a native of Tamil Nadu, being the brains behind the satellite. This will be the first time an Indian student’s experiment will be operated by NASA.

18-year-old Rifath Sharook; Source- New York Post
18-year-old Rifath Sharook; Source- New York Post

Hailing from the Tamil Nadu town of Pallapatti, Sharook has truly achieved something special with the KalamSat. The satellite will be launched by the US-based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and weighs only 64 grams. Named after India’s former President and nuclear scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the satellite is slated to be launched from a NASA facility in Wallops Island.

Sharook’s project made it through the competition ‘Cubes in Space’, which was a collaboration between NASA and ‘I Doodle Learning’. The project is the first to be manufactured through 3D printing, and aims to redefine the performance of new technology in space, reports the Business Standard .

 The mission span will be for 240 minutes, with KalamSat operating for 12 minutes in a micro-gravity environment, transported by a sub-orbital flight. Sharook, in a conversation with TOI, said,

The main role of the satellite will be to demonstrate the performance of 3D-printed carbon fibre. We designed it completely from scratch. It will have a new kind of on-board computer and eight indigenous built-in sensors to measure acceleration, rotation, and the magnetosphere of the earth. The main challenge was to design an experiment to be flown to space that would fit into a four-metre cube weighing 64 grammes.

 Sharook’s project was sponsored by ‘Space Kidz India’, and points to his keen interest in space. He has also subscribed to the NASA kid’s club. Further speaking about the scope of the project, he said,
We did a lot of research on different cube satellites all over the world, and found that ours was the lightest. We obtained some of the components from abroad, and some are indigenous. The satellite is made mainly of reinforced carbon fibre polymer.
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source: http://www.yourstory.com / YourStory.com / Home> Academia / Think Change India / May 19th, 2017