At 5.40 PM, we had a session by Sri B.A. Subramani on Space Communication and HAMSAT Radio. We learned about the different types of Orbits like Geostationary, Polar, Geosynchronous etc. He taught us how to track satellites and at 7 o’clock 11 minute and 41 seconds, we saw the International Space Station (ISS) in the night sky. After that we learnt about the ISS. The next day, we had our 7th lecture by Sri Subramanian on how satellites are launched and what are the six elements used to define an orbit. We learnt about Peri Gee, Apo Gee and Earth Central Inertial (ECI) Frame.
Did you know that a mountain in Peru named Chimborazu is the closest you can get to space? It is located on the equator where you already have an elevation of 22 Km. At 11 AM we had our 8th lecture by Shri Anand S on Solar Energy and its Utility. We saw Lithium Ion Batteries and after lunch reached ISTRAC at 12.15 PM. We had a presentation on ISTRAC (Currently handing 20 missions) by Sri R. Srinivasan, Deputy Director, ISTRAC. At around 3 PM, we went to the Mission Control Centre and then went to Dedicated Mission Control Room (DMCR). Then we went to Ground Control Centre and after that reached LEOS by 4.35 PM. Inside Laboratory for Electro Optic System (LEOS), we saw the Sensors Development Area inside which we saw the Sun Sensors, which locates the Sun and measures the angle, earth Sensors and star Sensors.
We then saw the applied optics area and came back to URSC at around 7.15 PM. We had another Science Quiz from 8.15 PM. On 21st May, 2019, we had our 9th lecture by Sri Shashi Shekhar on Rocket Propulsion and ISRO Launchers. We learnt about different types of Propulsion systems like Solid Propulsion, Liquid Propulsion, Hybrid Propulsion, Nuclear Propulsion and Ion Propulsion. We also learnt about Earth Storable Propellants. Next we had a lecture by Sri M. Venkatrao on Remote Sensing and its advantages. At 11.45 AM, we had a session on Robotics Automation and Intelligent Systems by Dr. R. Ranganath and team. Next we had a lecture by P. Murugan on India and its environment.
After that we had our 11th lecture by Prabhakar Sir on how rocket works and how they were made. We learnt about the different parts of the sounding rockets and Grain Configuration. We also learned about the liquid propellants, which we used like Unsymmetrical Dimethyl Hydrazine (UDMH) and Mono Methyl Hydrogen (MMH). We also learnt about different U.S. Space Shuttles like Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour. After this we also had a session to improve our concentration with Mr. H. Bhojraj. At 5.50 PM, we had a Drawing and Essay Competition.
The topic of Essay was “Planet Earth- 50 Years from Now” and Drawing was “ISRO – Neighbors’ Envy, Nation’s Pride”. Before we move further I need to remind you that after every session we could ask questions as many as we like and clear our doubts. All lectures were very interactive and informative. From 8.45 PM till 10.15 PM, we had an extended session with Mr. B.A. Subramani. The next day all 26 of us assembled in the classroom at 4.30 AM to see the launch of PSLV C-46, which carried RISAT-2B. At 9.15 AM we had our 12th lecture by Sri Bhavesh Jaiswal on Space at Atmospheric Sciences.
The write up is in first person, written by Dhriti Barnwal, a class 9 student of Delhi Public School, Ranchi, who was one of the 108 children in India who attended the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) YUVIKA programme from May 13 to May 25.