Chandrayaan-The Launch

This story has been published, but only half. So here goes the whole story with pics taken by me

T.K.Rohit|Tnn

Sriharikota: The solitary tower on a non-descript road by the side of the Pulicat Lake overlooking the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) was calm and quiet at 4.30 a.m. The stillness of the chilly morning was disturbed by a few lights on the road. Exactly one hour and 50 minutes later, there was a huge rumble, a ball of fire and a pall of smoke which finally disappeared into the infinite skies. Chandrayaan-I, India's first moon mission spacecraft had successfully taken off, carrying with it a billion Indian dreams to the moon!

About eight kms away from the launchpad stood the solitary tower, old and shaky, separated by the Pulicat Lake teeming with painted storks and a few other birds which were blissfully unaware of what was to come at 6.20 a.m. The two lights appearing on the deserted road was a van. Its progress was slow, courtesy terribly bad roads. When the vehicle came to a halt, out hopped a smart guy sporting a beard.

He proceeded with enthusiasm to climb the tower only to be told by one photographer that it was only for the media which had assembled there. So the young man went back to the bus and out came about 30 students, boys and girls. "We are students of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. We came here to watch the launch," G Philip told The Times of India. Abhinav Saket, a research student in physics at the institute said, "I will never have another opportunity to watch a rocket launch live, because this is my final year at the institute and I will be relocating elsewhere. It will be difficult to come back and watch another one." By 6 a.m there was a sizeable number of people at the spot, locals and people who had come from afar to watch the historical moment.

Chandrayaan being launched


But no one would have complained. All the large contingent of electronic and print media and ISRO officials inside the space centrw could be satisfied with was a just about two seconds of the rocket taking off, before it entered behind a huge pall of rain clouds and disappeared. But the people who had gathered at the spot near the Pulicat lake, had a glimpse of the rocket taking off from the launchpad, disappearing behind the rain clouds and reappearing at a higher level in the sky enroute its orbital direction. As the rocket reappeared from behind the clouds, people shouted, "Look, look...there it is," like children watching with glee a Diwali rocket light up the sky.

"It's spectacular!" remarked a girl in the group with happiness writ all over her face. A group of five young boys studying at the Sri Kalahastishwara Institute of Technology woke up at 2 am to ride on their bikes in the rain to see the launch. "We rode 50 kms from Kalahasti just for this moment. This is such a wonderful achievement. India will surely become a great
space power. Watching this was a great experience and such an inspiring moment,"N Vinay Kumar said.

Even as India took another giant leap towards becoming a technological superpower, it was the age old technology, the radio, that kept almost everyone at the spot keep tab with the launch for almost one and half hours till the rocket took off, giving intricate details about the launch and the countdown. A middle aged man kept the small FM radio glued to his ear all the time till the commentary said, "PSLV has now completed PS-II", and then he smiled!

A scientist with the National Geographical Research Institute said, "Now we will be on par with super powers of the world. Every Indian should be proud of this achievement," he said before helping a media personnel identify a species of birds at the Pulicat Lake, which was quite oblivious to India's leap into the international bandwagon of 'moon chasers!'.