10 lakhs from President to student who made rocket!

10 lakhs from President to student who made rocket!

A contribution of rs. 10 lakhs cash presentation was given to Gihan Hettiarachchi of Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya by President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday (22) at President's Secretariat last afternoon for future inventions of his after his creation of the rocket.

The said rocket caught the attention of the President at the exhibition held parallel to the centenary celebrations held at Gampaha Bandaranaike Vidyalaya. On that occasion he highly appreciated this feat of the student and further said that he would provide further provisions to develop the rocket and

take steps to see that the rocket is airborne. Accordingly, as the first stage this presentation of Rs. 10 lakhs was awarded for purposes of its future creative developments.

Technical officers of Sri Lanka Air Force too were summoned on this occasion and the President instructed them to provide assistance for the schoolboy Gihan Hettiarachchi to have the rocket sent to space.

This is what inventor of the rocket, Gihan Kavinda Hettiarachchi said: "I appeared for the advanced level in Engineering Technology this year. Now I am awaiting results. Dhanushka Minuwandeniya Sir told me that an exhibition would be held to commemorate the 100th year of the school. I told him that currently I am in the process of making a rocket at home and that I would bring it for presentation.

Sir gave me that opportunity. For this purpose I secured advice from Ravindra Divulwewa Sir and Prasad Chathuranga Sir and also got information by browsing the internet also. It took me about two months to make this. This rocket can travel at a speed of 750 kilometres per hour at a distance of 20 kilometres. I activated the rocket to for testing purposes. It cost me approximately Rs. 50,000. To make this rocket sent to orbit,an expenditure of six and a half lakhs has to be incurred. The President promised that he would help me in that aspect. I hope to send the rocket in Kalpitiya. The President said that he would be coming on that occasion".

Gihan Hettiarachchi expressed his ideas with a sense of joy. Gihan who invented this rocket at his own expense has already acquired patent rights for two of his previous creations. His intention is to secure higher education in Engineering Technology and make more and more creations.

while this student Gihan Hettiarachchi is getting prepared to send his rocket to the skies, information about the first schoolboy who creator of the rocket is being revealed. This referred to schoolboy happens to be Padmajeewa Ganepola of Colombo Nalanda Vidyalaya. He now is a professor. Presently he is attached to Cancer Research Centre in New Jersey Province in America and is the director there.

The rocket that schoolboy Padmajeewa Ganepola of Nalanda invented was set in motion on 4th February, 1959 and that happened to be a Day of Independence. The other speciality is that this proud student had made this attempt in a scientific background even before Niel Armstrong and Edwin Aldrich got into action in operations of travelling to the moon on Appollo 11 of NASA institute of America on July 21st, 1969 ... 10 years before in the year 1959. 

It was Late Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who in fact supported this historical event in 1959 and it was minister Mr. C.P. de Silva who went into action to secure state approval in that instance. Apart from them, Mr. M.W. Karunananda, the then principal of Nalanda and a number of scholars including Mr. A.T. Ariyaratna provided their support in this connection.