[ UPDATE 3/05/2020 18:13]: Azhar Ali was met with many netizens questioning the legitimacy of his tweet before deciding to post a Twitter thread in light of the accusations. Read the latest update here.
[ UPDATE 2/05/2020 23:59]: Azhar Ali has made his Twitter account private. Questions have been raised by our readers and Twitter users on the legitimacy of his claims. We are investigating the matter and will update accordingly.
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Beating out more than 3 million entries all around the world, 20-year-old Malaysian Muhammad Azhar Ali was recently awarded a prestigious NASA scholarship after taking part in their Artemis Student Exchange Program. Azhar obtained a top 1 percent score from the challenge.
NASA SUITS (Spacesuit User Interface Technologies for Students) was that competition that challenged students to design and create spacesuit information displays within augmented reality (AR) environments, and would adjust to the Artemis mission to Mars. The Artemis program is an ongoing crewed spaceflight program carried out by NASA with the goal of landing “the first woman and the next man” on the Moon in 2024 first before sending astronauts to Mars.
According to the eligibility of the challenge, it says that a participant must be a full-time undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an accredited U.S. institution of higher learning, or a Faculty member at the time the proposal is submitted. This could mean that he currently lives in the Unites States. We have reached out to Azhar and will await his response to keep you updated.
Azhar tweeted his scholarship announcement, stating that he never thought he could win when he joined the Artemis Challenge. He also posted screenshots of NASA’s email offer, even including a graphic showing his “Super Distinction score” of 96.77 percent Spacesuit Interface Efficiency Level.
A total of 3,623,982 participants competed in the challenge and only 1.52 percent of them scored between 90 to 100 marks and were awarded the scholarship. Besides a scholarship, NASA also offered Azhar a part in their Youth Artemis Scientist team under NASA STEM Engagement.
Azhar garnered the attention of the likes of Minister of Science, Technolgy and Innovation Khairy Jamaluddin and Minister of Higher Education Dato Dr Noraini Ahmad on Twitter, congratulated him on the achievement.
Azhar is now officially NASA’s Citizen Scientist, official volunteers who have helped make thousands of important scientific discoveries. He will continue his studies at the National University of Singapore, which he will be funded by the NASA Degree Scholarship. The scholarships are valued up to SGD3,750 depending on the duration of the programme.
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