Pune: Students from the Zilla Parishad school in Khalumbre (Khed taluka) have experienced a moment that will be etched in golden letters in the history of education, as they embark on a journey to space. The names of 11 students and 11 teachers from this school will reach the moon, as part of NASA's Artemis-2 project. These names will be stored on an SD card and sent on a mission around the moon aboard the Orion spacecraft. For this unique initiative, the students have received 'boarding passes' directly from NASA.
Microsoft award-winning teacher Nagnath Vibhute played a crucial role in making this glorious moment possible. NASA's Artemis-2 project is considered a very important step towards human lunar missions. In this mission, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency will launch into space aboard the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and the Orion spacecraft.
Meanwhile, through Nagnath Vibhute's initiative, the Khalumbre Astronomy Club has been established at the school, and there are plans to arrange a virtual meeting between the students and Sunita Williams, a retired NASA researcher of Indian origin.
Names of the students: Anushka Gaikwad, Arnavvi Jidgule, Vaishnavi Ravindra Pawar, Diksha Kamble, Gayatri Kamble, Kavya Pawar, Pooja Rupnar, Priya Botre, Purvi Aghav, Vaishnavi Jitendra Pawar.
Names of the teachers: Jagdish Bairagi, Chhaya Mahajan, Prabhavati Bairagi, Ratnaprabha Walunj, Lalita Pawar, Swati Kudri, Haridas Bhangare, Uma Patil, Dipali Vibhute, Nagnath Vibhute, Vibhavari Khose. 10-Day Mission
NASA's Artemis-2 mission, an approximately 10-day mission, is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida before April 2026. The astronauts will travel approximately 4,600 miles beyond the Moon and land safely in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of San Diego.
While enrollment in Zilla Parishad schools is declining, this initiative, which is giving a new dimension to girls' education by connecting it to space exploration, is proving to be inspirational. Education Officer Sanjay Naikade, Block Education Officer Amol Jungle, and Centre Head Sushma Jadhav have highly praised this remarkable endeavour.
