MUMBAI: A Mars rover designed and built by students of IIT-Bombay now features in a German space documentary called "Ticket To The Moon."
The 80-minute documentary which was readied in July 2019 coincided with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the first manned landing on the moon. It is directed by a Czechoslovakian, Veronica Janatkowa, and has since been debutting at various international film festivals such as the Hungarian film festival. It was planned to be shown at IIT-B, but Covid-19 upset the schedule.
The documentary is set against the background of the Cold War space race of the 60s and nearly 100,000 space enthusiasts on both sides of the Iron curtain booking tickets on a Pan Am flight to the moon! In this film. Some of the potential space travellers humorously recall their moon stories.
Speaking to Toi on Sunday, Satyam Mohla, who was the division head, research and biosciences at IIT Bombay Mars rover team, said that in the documentary the rover moves around at the Utahs Mars Desert Research Station even as president of Mars Society, Robert Zubrin, talks about the role of young engineers, inventors and entrepreneurs who are moving society forward to explore moon and then reach Mars. The IIT-B team drives the rover. Mohla said: "The presence of our rover is symbolic because it signifies moving from moon to Mars."
The Mars Society is an international space advocacy organisation established in 1998 which is dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the Red Planet.
Among those who have been given credit in the film are Satyam Mohla, IIT-B Mars Rover team and IIT-B along with various international aerospace organisations which includes the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC, Nasa and the European Space Agency.
Mohla recalled that the participation of the IIT-B rover began when he got an opportunity to interact with the film crew at the Mars Desert ReRead More – Source
[contf]
[contfnew]
times of india
[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]
