Child prodigy scouting local students for world first rocket launch project |11 August 2021
During yesterday’s talk with A-Level students, child prodigy Issey announced that he is scouting local students for world first rocket launch project in Seychelles (Photo: Joena Meme)
Issey Ryu Itahashi, the 13-year-old child-prodigy who is presently teaching on an unpaid internship at the Vallon secondary school, yesterday launched a special project, which if successful will be a world first and go a long way towards promoting Seychelles.
During an inspirational talk with students of the School of Advanced Level Studies (Sals), Anse Royale yesterday, the 13-year-old genius officially set the ball rolling on the rocket launch project scheduled for August 2022, which will see Seychelles’ vanilla seeds delivered into space.
For the space programme 2022, Issey delivered the official application for approval of the small rocket launch to Vice-President Ahmed Afif on August 2, 2021.
The launch of the simple 5-metre rocket weighing about 30kg will use new combination of technologies, used for the first time in the world. The technology will be attempting the lowest energy consumption of space rocket launch and one of the highest safety levels, and the rocket will attempt to exceed the stratosphere, from the territory and exclusive zone of Seychelles.
The master of the technological construction of the rocket and senior rocket fuel expert is professor Krauchanka Ivan Uladimirovich.
“When I was studying for GCSEs with my Chemistry teacher, he and I were very interested in rockets so for one lesson we kept talking about that. And he saw an opportunity, and because of the situation in his country he cannot launch it, so he saw a chance to do it together with me somewhere else,” said Issey.
“I came here because the Ministry of Education let me teach, so I want to give back for that. In addition, Seychelles is a very good location to launch a rocket from. I found out that you have a vanilla production here and I have read how vanilla is becoming more expensive since there aren’t a lot of people producing it, so I want to let people know that you also produce vanilla here,” Issey stated.
For the launch to be realised, Issey is seeking six students who are interested to work alongside himself and his chemistry lecturer. Students who have completed or will complete either GCSEs or A-Levels by December 31, 2021 in chemistry, physics, maths, electro-technics and engineering and technology are eligible to join the team.
As such, Issey will as of now to December be scouting students who are interested, and from January to May 2022, the successful applicants will be involved in working online for about three hours per week studying the rocket technologies and rocket structure.
From June to July 2022, the team of three cosmic engineers will arrive to Seychelles and work with our team individually, and from there, launch tests will be conducted prior to the official launch.
Aside from wanting to give back to the local community, Seychelles is the ideal place for the rocket launch, on account of its geographical advantage. Located close to the equator, means lower gravity pull and much lower energy consumption for the launch.
For more information and to apply to be a part of the project, interested students may visit Issey’s website at www.ryuissey.com
Since his arrival in Seychelles on June 5, Issey has been teaching at the Beau Vallon secondary school and has come to certain conclusions with regards to the local education system.
During yesterday’s talk, he shared his perspective that streaming of students is especially beneficial as it allows those with different levels of ability to progress together. He also said that llonger lessons help teachers to explain topics thoroughly, giving students time to adequately ask questions and work through topics.
As for the disadvantages of the system, he noted that the population size means that there aren’t many universities or professional centres to form students for the professions and careers most needed in the country. Therefore, he proposes that students learn about the jobs and professions which are necessary and that a limit be placed on other jobs and career paths which will eventually be phased out by technological advancements in the coming years.
Issey, who is due to leave the country on August 27, has from an early age shown a keen interest in learning. By the time he had completed kindergarten, the child prodigy was fluent in four languages ‒ English, Chinese, Spanish and Slovak. He has over the years attended a school for gifted children where he skipped five grades for mathematics studies, before eventually being taken out of school by his mother to pursue further studies on his own.
By the age of 10, the prodigy fired his then mathematics teacher, and has since been involved in hiring his teachers himself, through online platforms, which he is also using to prepare for the A-Levels.
At just 13, Issey is the world’s youngest gemologist, after successfully qualifying from a university in Germany.
Laura Pillay
