He dreams of being the first person to step on Mars and his inspiration is none other than President A P J Abdul Kalam.

Meet 14-year-old Saatvik Agarwal, a Class X student at Amity International School in south Delhi's Saket neighbourhood, who has been chosen to participate in NASA's project on Mars exploration.

Saatvik is among 16 students selected through a global contest to work as 'student astronauts' with NASA scientists. The students will spend two weeks next year learning at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory -- NASA's centre for robotic exploration of the solar system -- in Pasadena, California.

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Saatvik will be part of the Science Operations Working Group on the project Red Rover Goes to Mars between January-March 2004.

Speaking to rediff.com, Saatvik revealed his love for stars, space and Kalam.

He says, "I want to work with him (Kalam) one day. He is not just a great scientist but also a great human being."

He says he wants to take the President's blessings before leaving for the US. "I respect President Kalam from the depth of my heart."

"The best thing is that I will work with the scientist who are actually commanding the project on Mars. I am excited to go there and I am working hard for it," said Saatvik, the only son of his parents. Another student who has been selected, Hyderabad's Vigyan Patamorty, will accompany him.

The Planetary Society, a US-based space interest group, had interviewed 60 students across the world. The students were short-listed after an essay-writing competition. Saatvik was asked to write an essay on 'What would I do with a robot if I get to control it for two days on Mars'. He was then interviewed on phone.

He recalls: "The topic of the essay was good. It required a lot of research. I had to study how a robot works, what it can do and lot of other things. Then I read a lot on Mars. All these helped me to write a good comprehensive essay.

"The interview was nice. They asked me some scientific questions but generally they wanted to know how aware I was on space science. It was a good experience."

Saatvik wants to study aeronautical or computer engineering at MIT in the US and then come back to serve his country.

Strongly critical of brain drain, he says: "It is an established fact that Indians are very intelligent. Our engineers and scientists are doing so well in the US. Why can't we do it in India?

"There is something lacking here and we will have to create an environment to correct this. I want to work in my own country."

Saatvik had earlier won the 'Original Mind' award instituted by the Infosys Foundation and an award for his 75-page Web site on space, given by Kiran Bedi's India Vision Foundation.

When he is not busy with the Internet, he reads about space science, physics, mathematics and science fictions. "I am passionate about space because we know little about it. It makes me curious," he says.

He is now a celebrity in his school and his teachers and friends are proud of him.

Bharati Sharma, school principal, says: "He has made us proud. I expect him to do even better in life and make the country proud. I want to see him as a great scientist and wish his dreams come true."

Rajeev Agarwal, his father, who is an Internet consultant, says: "We all are happy. But this is just the beginning."