When a student is  a space buff or the one who loves to see the flying machines taking off the ground, when the children are very much fascinated about the heavenly objects, UFO and the mysterious vast space, the foggy weather prevailing during January is not going to resist from getting up from the bed in the early morning scarifying the warmth of their blankets . Eager students with a lot of enthusiasm and curiosity, assembled inside the school premises at 4.45 a.m on 21.1. 2020 gearing up for the trip to SDSC-SHAR.

A crew consisting of 90 students 8 teachers and two drivers took off from the school ground gushing out of the campus like a rocket launcher towards Shriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. 

Unable to control the fervour, students filled with joy roaring and dancing to the different tunes played in the audio system kept exhibiting their happiness while travelling. The feel of togetherness and the care of teachers made them feel euphoric.

They were all thrilled that they are going to have real time experience of feeling of patriotism that exudes only during the time when they use to watch India Pakistan cricket matches.
They all  gone ballistic!!!

Let’s take a tour along with them….!! 

Let’s listen to them…!

Singing and dancing inside the bus all the way, When  we were in Sullurupeta which links to SDSC by a road across the Pulicat Lake, the second-largest saltwater lake in India, which is also a bird sanctuary and is known for flamingos thronging it during our journey towards the SDSC

ISRO now offers every Indian an opportunity to watch rocket launches live.  As part of its outreach activities to spread awareness about Space Technology, ISRO has come out with a Viewer’s Gallery at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. SDSC Sriharikota is a spindle-shaped barrier island on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh coving an area of approximately 45,650 acres of land which is considered to be the India’s biggest space centre.

We reached the destination 9.30 a.m. sharp. With high security check and verification of support documents everyone was let into the premises. It took ten minutes to board the bus again to reach the Library. A separate room was allotted to deposit all our belongings including mobile phones. Students were allowed to take a pen and a scribing pad along with them. Accompanied by the official guide allotted by ISRO, we travelled almost 10 Km to reach the main Control centre , It was such a pleasant and enthralling experience to stand and view the spectacular setup inside the Space control centre. Students were thrilled to be inside this A/C amphitheatre. A short movie was shown to us highlighting the various operations that take place in this control centre. It was a great opportunity for us to understand and appreciate the vision, mission and various successful endeavours of ISRO.

After this we were taken to the next launching pad where the India’s first satellite Bhaskara was launched. With high security electric fens, the launch pad was guarded with security personnel.

Since maintenance work was going on, we were allowed to witness the launch pad a few metres away from that. A launch was scheduled already which would be taking place in the month of Feb’2020. All the preparatory works were going on at that time.

We were back to the library and had a sumptuous lunch prepared and sent by our school management.

It was like a picnic during the lunch time, chatting with our friends while having the lunch, we were resting on the meadows relaxing and recollecting the wonderful moments we have spent inside the control centre.

Our nest visit was the Space Museum:

 A special Space Museum has been created, which will highlight the glorious history of ISRO, and will showcase our space journey divided into 6 categories: history, education, technology, applications, global and the future. Unfortunately, we cannot combine the launch and visit the Space Museum too because of restrictions before and after the launch. The facilities inside SHAR are closed 2 days before and after any scheduled launch.

Filled with joy, carrying the exiting moments captured by our eyes and stored in our memory for ever we started back to our school at around 2.20 p.m. 

This trip would not only leave an everlasting memory in our minds which they we cherish in our lifetime but also a motivation, a zeal to feel proud to be an Indian in all our hearts. 

With a sense of gratitude for those who initiated and extended co-operation for the successful trip, everyone of us left the school premises around 6.00 p.m.