Coimbatore students witness launch of Aditya-L1 at science centre

Students cheered as PSLV-C57 lifted off, placing India’s first solar space observatory on its intended orbit as they watched the screening live at Regional Science Centre in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The satellite was deployed into a low-Earth orbit by PSLV-C57, the 59th mission of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Students witnessed the launching of Aditya-L1 at the Regional Science Centre in the city on Saturday.

The students said it was a proud moment for the nation.

Over 190 students of Class IX and above from private schools took part in the initiative by the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre - ‘Flying to the Sun with Aditya-L1’. The centre involved Obuli Chandran, who founded Mango Education, to explain the process to the students.

The children posed questions such as the type of fuel, fuel content, the reason for distance and choosing this orbit, the duration for making the satellite, the effects of sunspots on earth, the reason for choosing gold as the foil, and how issues of the satellite would be solved.

The students also viewed a 3-D show on physics and the 200 exhibits in the viewing gallery — including displays on textiles, history, science and maths — and the innovation hub.

Space constraint

An official source at the centre said that some students had to be sent back due to lack of space. “An amphitheatre would be ideal. More explainers to teach students about the various aspects of the centre will be arriving next week. So, more activities will be planned. We need space to accommodate all the children willing to participate,” the source added.