The heart of Mumbai recently turned into a mini rocket launch site between 1 pm and 2pm on 26 Dec 2008
The venue was the green slopes of the Discovery of India building opposite Nehru Planetarium at Worli, where both ISRO and the planetarium did a trial run of a water rocket competition to be held for the first time in Mumbai next month.
However, the two rockets that were "launched successfully'' were not assembled in a bigaerospace workshop, but in the office of Piyush Pandey, the planetarium's director.
ISRO official B R Guruprasad said it was a simple device made of two pressurised soft drink bottles, thick plastic sheets, scotch tapes and various stationery items. "It takes about 90 minutes to make a water rocket,'' he said, adding that the cost of making a rocket was less than Rs 100.
Each rocket was filled with water, which was pressurised using a pump. For a moment, the small group of spectators was as anxious as it would have been at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota before a rocket launch. Guruprasad began the countdown: "5-4-3-2-1 and now!''
The first rocket achieved an altitude of 50 ft and covered a distance of 100 ft in a parabolic path. During the third attempt, the rocket flew 300 ft at a height of 50 ft.
ISRO chief spokesperson S Satish said the event would encourage people to pursue a career in space sciences.
கருத்துகள் இல்லை:
கருத்துரையிடுக