Pavlodar schoolgirl spotted by NASA turns down University of Texas

Pavlodar genius schoolgirl-inventor Nazifa Baktybayeva that was spotted by NASA and invited to study in the United States has been enrolled at Suleyman Demirel University in Almaty, Tengrinews.kz reports. Almaty University of Suleyman Demirel awarded Nazifa Baktybayeva with a grant so she won't have to pay for her university studies. According to the girl, she chose the Computing Technology and Software program of the University's Engineering Department. “I have been thinking which university to choose. There were a lot of options. I had to abandon the idea of studying in the University of Texas for financial reasons. I also decided against Moscow Engineering and Technology Institute. As a result I got enrolled at Almaty Kazakhstan-Turkish University for Computing Technology and Software bachelor program,” the student said. “However, I won’t abandon my dream to dedicate my life to space research and became the astronaut. When I graduate from Suleyman Demirel University I am going to apply for a Master's Degree at the University of Texas. I think that my bachelor degree in Computing will help me a lot. Especially since astronautics is to a great extent based on computing and other automated systems,” Baktybayeva said. The schoolgirl became a prize-winner of Air Smith International Olympiad that was held in Houston in March, 2012. The young inventor demonstrated her space ship for traveling to Venus at the Space Projects Contest. It took her one year to work out her scientific project and construct her model of the scientific space ship for studying the planet. The air vehicle is made of an umbrella and a heater that fills a spheric bag with warm air. Old computer boards, earphones and DVD-player parts, umbrella, pegs and even balloons became parts of the main block of the aerostat. The girl even calculated the flight path of the space ship and took into consideration the previous experience of unsuccessful flights to Venus in her calculations. Baktybayeva was awarded with an invitation to study in the University of Texas for her victory at the contest. She also won the International Scientific competition on Space Exploration that was held in Baikonur Cosmodrome in April this year.