Malaysian, 20, wins prestigious NASA recognition

Muhammad Azhar Ali announcing his reward on Twitter

KUALA LUMPUR: A 20-year-old Malaysian has seen his dream come true after he was awarded a NASA scholarship.

Muhammad Azhar Ali was among more than 3 million people who participated in the Artemis Challenge organized by the space agency.

He took advantage of being confined because of the Movement Control Order, the cordon sanitaire implemented as a preventive measure by Malaysia in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country on March 18, to chase his dream and turn it into a sweet reality.

Muhammad Azhar actively engaged himself in the competition’s task – to design a spacesuit that would adjust to the Artemis 2024 mission to Mars. And he made it, obtaining a super distinction score of 96.77 per cent, placing him in the top one per cent participants.

According to local reports, 3,623,982 participants competed in the challenge and only 1.52 per cent of those who scored between 90 to 100 marks were awarded the scholarship.

“NASA IS GIVING ME A SCHOLARSHIP !? Ya Allah, I NEVER thought of this when I joined the Artemis Challenge. Alhamdulillah. The challenge was to design a spacesuit that would adjust to the Artemis 2024 mission to Mars, and thanks to @rafiqhilmi_ ‘s question, I made it. Syukur (Thank you),” Muhammad Azhar posted on his Twitter account.

The distinction made him officially a NASA’s Citizen Scientist. He will continue his studies at the National University of Singapore, fully funded by the NASA Degree Scholarship.

Malaysia’s Minister of Science, Technolgy & Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin applauded the achievement and invited Muhammad Azhar to the ministry and the Malaysian Space agency to discuss how they can encourage the next generation of young scientists.

“Congratulations! Happy to welcome you to @officialmosti & the Malaysian Space Agency soon to see how we can encourage more of our young scientists to win prestigious scholarships,” Khairy Jamaluddin posted on Twitter.

In highlighting Artemis Challenge, NASA said it was committed to landing American astronauts, including the first woman and the next man, on the Moon by 2024.

“Through the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration program, we will use innovative new technologies and systems to explore more of the Moon than ever before. We will collaborate with our commercial and international partners to establish sustainable missions by 2028. And then we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars,” NASA said.