Asteroid Search Campaign: NASA picks 16 yr old Indian girl for project

This young student's dreams' just came true! 16-year-old tribal girl named Ritika Dhruw from Chhattisgarh's Mahasamund District has been selected for the Asteroid Search Campaign organised by the International Astronomical Search Collaboration partnering with NASAs Citizen Science Project. How did she get selected for this NASA project? According to a report by TOI, Ritika impressed the scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Andhra Pradesh through her black hole presentation and this got her selected for the project.

"Ritika had participated in the asteroid search campaign and got selected. Our curious young little girl Ritika, who has been keenly taking interest in space since her childhood, outshined. She represented the team and performed very well in Bilaspur,"Ami Rufus, her school principal, told TOI.

The 16-year-old will attend an asteroid hunting camp at ISRO later in the month of November 2022. The Principal further said that Ritika has been good and consistent at study and used to attend online quizzes on space and asteroids.

It can be known that Ritika is a class 11th student at Swami Atmanand Government English School (SAGES), Nayapara, Mahasamund, which is 60 km from state capital Raipur. Ritika's massive achievement can be gauged from the fact that her father runs a cycle repair shop.