THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Inclement weather did not prevent space buffs from lining up to watch a sounding rocket lift off from Thumba on Monday morning.
Nearly 4000 people, including school children, visited the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) to watch the RH-200 series rocket rise into the leaden skies over Thiruvananthapuram, according to VSSC officials. The launch - the first of three planned this week - was part of an Open House at the VSSC held to mark the World Space Week (WSW) celebrations organised jointly by the ISRO units in the state capital.
VSSC frequently flies small rockets fitted with instruments to study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere. In fact, it was an American Nike-Apache sounding rocket that lifted off from Thumba in 1963 that marked the beginning of India’s space exploration programmes.
As part of WSW, VSSC is planning two more launches for the public this week - one each on Tuesday and Wednesday at 11.45 am. The RH 200 series of rockets can carry a ten kg payload and rise up to a height of 80 kms.
WSW is celebrated from October 4 to 10 every year to mark the anniversaries of two events that changed space exploration: the launch of Russia’s Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite, on October 4, 1957, and the signing of the ‘Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,’ on October 10, 1967. The public also received an opportunity to visit the space museum as part of the open house programme.