Do you know that the popular space organization, ISRO's story, began in a church of a small village? How was ISRO formed, and how did India launch their first rocket? To know more such interesting facts, keep reading this article of illogical paradox.
Hearing the Bishop's words, the villagers gave their agreement, and the village was relocated in under 100 days. The same church was used to establish a rocket design and assembly center. The Bishop's home was transformed into a space engineering workshop, and the church's cowshed became the new laboratory. Thus, the village was transformed into the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Centre.
Pioneering Scientists and Organized Space Research
Since the 1920s, several scientists were performing space experiments in India. The leading among them were SK Mitra, Meghnad Saha, and CV Raman. Although organized space research in India was first led by two scientists, Dr. Homi Bhabha, who is known as the Father of Atomic Energy, and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, who, in 1947, established the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Sarabhai's dream was to develop space technology for India, which he could use for the interest of the country. His dream gained inspiration when, in 1957, Russia launched the Sputnik 1 satellite.Establishment of INCOSPAR and the Rocket Launching Challenge
For a country like India, developing expensive space technology was a big challenge. But despite the challenge, Dr. Homi Bhabha and Dr. Vikram Sarabhai met Prime Minister Nehru and convinced him to invest in space. Finally, in 1962, under the leadership of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, the Indian National Committee for Space Research, aka INCOSPAR, was established. Owing to Dr. Sarabhai's efforts, NASA signed an agreement to lend their rocket, Nike-Apache Rocket, to India. The objective of INCOSPAR was to successfully launch this rocket.
Discovering the Ideal Rocket Launching Station
But for that, they required a rocket launching station. In search of a launching location, Dr. Sarabhai scouted several locations around the country and finally reached a small fishermen's village called Thumba, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He realized that in the church of Mary Magdalene, the compass needle neither pointed north nor south, indicating that the church was situated on the magnetic equator. Additionally, the village was close to the geographic equator. Dr. Sarabhai knew that the closer the rocket launching station is to the earth's geometric equator, the planetary spin gives a speed boost to the rocket's launch. This made Thumba the perfect place for a launching station.
The Church's Transformation and the Support of the Villagers
When Dr. Sarabhai and his fellow scientists met the church's bishop to talk about buying the church's land, Reverend Peter Pereira smiled and invited everyone to the Sunday mass. During the mass, the Bishop presented Dr. Sarabhai's question in front of the villagers like this: "My children, we have a well-known scientist amongst us today. They are asking for our church and village for space science and research. Science and spirituality both work for human prosperity. Science tries to make our life better, while spirituality enriches our minds. This means that Vikram and I are doing the same job. So, shall we donate the Lord's house for this scientific experiment?"Hearing the Bishop's words, the villagers gave their agreement, and the village was relocated in under 100 days. The same church was used to establish a rocket design and assembly center. The Bishop's home was transformed into a space engineering workshop, and the church's cowshed became the new laboratory. Thus, the village was transformed into the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Centre.
Challenges and Triumph: India's First Rocket Launch
When NASA's rocket was brought to the launch platform, everyone saw a unique scene. Our scientists were bringing the rocket parts on a cycle. Everything was going well when suddenly, while assembling the rocket and positioning it on the launcher, the hydraulic crane began to leak. When the scientists finally brought the rocket into position manually, they realized that the remote launch system had also malfunctioned. The day had set while fixing this malfunction, and finally, the launch time had arrived. Everyone had their eyes on India. On the evening of November 21, 1963, at 6.25 pm, the launch countdown began: "5...4...3...2...1..." Under the setting sun, India successfully launched their first rocket and took their first step towards space.