Most of us still remember the video clips of Prime Minister Narendra Modi consoling ISRO Chairman K Sivan who broke down after the team lost touch with Vikram Lander of Chandrayaan 2. A group of students from Municipal Middle School, Tirupur who were present in the launch gallery also tried to console him. But how? They wrote a letter to him after witnessing the historical event from the viewer's launch gallery, twice. And guess what? They got a reply from him too!
The students who were overwhelmed with the response were in for a second surprise. Now the kids are gearing up to witness the launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV- C47 on November 27, 2019. "We registered online two days back. Five of our students are being taken to Sriharikota to watch the launch," said Saravanan S, a second-grade teacher at the school, who will be accompanying the kids.
Talking about how the students were short-listed, their teacher says that an essay writing competition was conducted to know their awareness about space. "A 100 students participated in it. They were asked to write about their knowledge on Chandrayaan 2. The best among them were selected and taken for the Chandrayaan 2 launch. The remaining students are being taken for PSLV- C47 launch," explains Saravanan S.
One of the five students who has already witnessed Chandrayaan 2 launch will also witness PSLV launch because he is just too obsessed with the science of it all. "GSLV Mark III (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III) had a very loud noise when it was launched. I am curious to know whether PSLV would also have that noise," exclaimed Mohammed Thahir, a class five student.
Talking about the students' interest in space and astronomy, their teacher informs us that they have an Open Science Centre which was set up by an NGO, Open Space Foundation, which is a youth initiative that encourages students to learn science in a practical and interesting way. "We are the first government school to have such a center and we are about to get a telescope installed by the foundation. We aim to bring out the scientist in these kids," he said with pride.
