Chandrayaan seems to be the flavour of the month weeks after ISRO lost contact with its lander. Even among kids from government schools. About 150 students from government schools across the Coimbatore district were recently given an opportunity to visit the Indian Space Research Organisation's Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram. The trip was organised by Samagra Shiksha, under the aegis of Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan.
Upon reaching the site on October 31 and completing their security checks, the students watched a 30-minute video on the history of the Vikram Sarabhai Research Centre and how far India has developed in space research. Following that, two staff members of ISRO took the students on a tour of all the rockets and satellites used there and explained every model, both originals and replicas in detail. They were also shown the original satellites, recovered satellites and other space vehicles that are on display there.
Rajesh, one of the teachers who accompanied the students says, "The students were really inspired. Every fuel system was represented over there. They learnt a lot about solid fuels in particular. There was also a rocket called Rohan 200 that is launched every month to analyse the atmosphere." The students asked a lot of questions regarding Chnadrayaan 1 and 2, why its success rate was just 99 per cent and where it had failed. They also had a few questions about reusable space shuttles.
The 50 girls and 100 boys who went on the trip were selected from class VIII and IX based on their academic aptitude as well as co-curricular abilities. After the trip, some of the students expressed their desire to work at ISRO and find solutions to reduce pollution during the launch process.
The students were accompanied by eight teachers from various schools and three staff from IRCTC. IRCTC has been sponsoring this entire tour, including travel and accommodation for the last five years
