The NASA has made a shocking revelation about the claims of Sataparna Mukherjee, the 18-year-old girl from West Bengal who claimed to be selected by NASA Goddard Internship Programme (GIP) under the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS).
Explanation by NASA has been sent to dna on email, NASA said, “We have no record of anyone by that name receiving an internship, scholarship or any form of academic or financial assistance from any NASA institute, centre or program”.
While Mukherjee had claimed that she has been selected for the internship and all expenses are to be bore by “NASA’s London Astrobiology Centre”, NASA said that they do not have any facility in London and the internship is awarded to US citizens only.
“The NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies has no facilities in London and all of the institute’s internships are given to students who live within 50 miles only of its location in New York City,” the reply clearly expressed.
When dna approached Mukherjee about her response, she claimed, “They are denying it because we had signed a contract which said we cannot divulge anything relating to the internship program. It’s extremely confidential and now that it is out in the open, they are denying it.”
On pointing out that the offer letter she claims was sent to her by the NASA Observatory Centre spelt ‘Goddard’ incorrectly as ‘Godward’, she added, “It’s a technical error. The spelling is correct on the original document, but I am not supposed to share it with the media considering the confidentiality.”
While teenager is optimitic about going to London for her internship, claiming that NASA has sent her air-tickets, her future is in precarious situation.
