ISRO’s Incredible Journey from Bicycle to Moon

For a long time, people have been really interested in the moon. It’s like Earth’s mysterious friend up in the sky that still holds many secrets. If you don’t already know, recently, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been doing some amazing things to learn more about the moon.

They sent a spacecraft called Chandrayaan-3 to land on the moon’s south pole, and it worked! This makes India the fourth country, after the USA, Russia, and China, to do something like this.

The missions before this also found out cool stuff about the moon, like how hot or cold it gets, and that there’s sulphur there. These achievements show that ISRO is really good at exploring the moon and helping us understand it better.

ISRO, a space organization was transporting their rocket parts by bicycle in the early 60s due to lack of funding and resources. And now, they’ve landed on the south people of the People, the first space organisation to be able to do so.

Today, we’re celebrating ISRO’s success, and it’s well-deserved. ISRO is a space agency that loves taking on tough challenges and never gives up, even when things don’t go perfectly. Chandrayaan-3, their latest mission to the moon, gives us hope after two previous missions didn’t work out in 2008 and 2019. Hope is a powerful thing; it makes us stronger and more determined.

The team of brave scientists made a whole new mission in just four years, and they did it without spending as much money as it takes to make big Hollywood movies like Interstellar and Avengers.

ISRO’s path to success has been filled with challenges, from money problems to restrictions in the past. I want to show you how ISRO went from starting small, like transporting equipment in bicycles for launching, to launching missions to the Moon and even the Sun, becoming a big and successful space agency.

How ISRO Was Formed – An Unexpected Journey

ISRO’s journey was like a roller coaster ride it was named as The Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962 by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India. But its preparation was started way back during British rule in India. When Britishers were busy looting India there were some scientists who were writing about the future of science and space for India.

During that time, a scientist named S. K. Mitra carried out experiments in Kolkata, where he used ground-based radio to study something called the ionosphere. This was an important step in understanding the outer space environment around our planet.

Afterwards, Indian scientists like C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha also made important contributions to scientific knowledge that helped us explore and understand space better.

It was a tough time for India because India was struggling for its Independence from British India along with starvation & poverty, but as it is said – “Where there is a will, there’s a way”

Indian Scientist kept their morale high and after 1945, two important scientists in India started working together on space research. Their names were Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha. Vikram Sarabhai created the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, and Homi Bhabha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945. They played a big role in advancing space research in India.

Vikram Sarabhai is the name for which Chandrayan 3 Lander was named as Lander Rover. Homi Jahangir Bhabha is known as the father of Atomic Energy in India, his contribution has made India a Nuclear Power.

One day, Vikram Sarabhai and Homi Bhabha met with Jawaharlal Nehru and explained why it’s important to spend money on space projects. After hearing their reasons, Nehru agreed, and in 1962, they started the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), now known as the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), with Vikram Sarabhai leading the way.

It’s only Dr. Sarabhai’s relentless dedication that NASA entered into an agreement to lend India their Nike Apache rocket. The INCOSPAR initiative’s primary aim was to accomplish this rocket’s successful launch. However, a crucial requirement was a rocket launching facility, which India did not possess at that time.

How India Launched Its First Rocket – The Story Behind Bicycle

The ISRO journey started in a little church in a small village in Kerala. Dr Sarabhai was on a big hunt to find the perfect spot in India to launch rockets into space. His search led him to a quiet fishing village called Thumba in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

Something exciting happened there. When he went inside the Mary Magdalene Church, the compass needle did something unusual. Instead of pointing north or south like it normally does, it just stayed still.

This discovery showed that the church was right on the line where the Earth’s magnetic forces balance and the village was very near to the middle of the Earth. Dr Sarabhai saw how important this was – when you launch a rocket from a place closer to the Earth’s middle, it gets a big boost from the Earth’s spinning, making it go up faster and better.

To get the land for their scientific work, Dr. Sarabhai and his scientist friends met the church leader, Reverend Peter Pereira. He greeted them warmly and even invited them to Sunday church.

While they were at church, the bishop told the people there about Dr. Sarabhai’s request for the land. He asked them if they would be willing to give the land for science. The people agreed, and in less than 100 days, they moved away from the land so the scientists could use it.

The church was changed into a place where they designed and built rockets. The bishop’s house became a workshop for making things for space. Even the place where they kept cows turned into a lab. This village became the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Centre.

The moment when NASA’s rocket arrived at the launch platform was quite something – our scientists used bicycles to carry parts of the rocket! and in a bullock cart!. Everything was going well until a sudden problem happened while they were putting the rocket together and setting up the launching equipment.

The machine that lifts heavy things, called the hydraulic crane, started to leak. Even though this was a big challenge, the scientists didn’t give up. They worked together to move the rocket by hand. But then, they found out that the system that was supposed to launch the rocket remotely wasn’t working right. But if you’re resilient and determined nothing can stop you.

After the team talked and decided, they chose a person to control the launcher. Once that was done, everything finally seemed ready. An alarm went off to make sure everyone stayed away from the launch area.

Everyone was praying for the success of ISRO. As the day was almost over, everyone was watching, waiting for India’s big rocket launch.

On the evening of November 21, 1963, at 6:25 PM, something really exciting happened. India launched its very first rocket into space as the sun was setting. This was a huge deal because it marked the beginning of India’s journey into space exploration. After this, our scientists kept working hard and didn’t stop. They completed many amazing space missions and achieved a lot of success without ever turning back.

ISRO, a unique entity, made ground-breaking achievements such as discovering water on the moon through Chandrayaan-1 and launching Mangalyaan to Mars, solidifying India’s prowess in the global space arena.

ISRO’s legacy is a story of perseverance, innovation, and national pride. From its modest beginnings, the organization has ascended to international recognition for its groundbreaking missions, such as discovering water on the moon and launching the Mangalyaan mission to Mars.

As ISRO continues to reach for the stars, it inspires not only India but the entire world, reinforcing the belief that science and exploration hold the keys to understanding the universe’s deepest secrets.

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