Visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru, INDIA (October 2024)
Believe it or not but I was fortunate enough to embark on a trip to India and visit the incredible Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in the country’s southern thriving city of Bengaluru, which is its IT hub and the home of the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation), being the country’s space program.
Inside, I took all the below pictures and also had the opportunity to see its video that provided a short history of the Russian (formerly the Soviet Union) and American space programs during the great Space Race of the 50s and 60s. It started with the Soviets launching the world’s first successful satellite in space, known as Sputnik 1, in October 1957. The American equivalent blew up on the launch pad. The Soviets had another first with sending the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin, on 12 April 1961. He orbited the earth in about 109 minutes and then safely landed back in the Soviet Union. The Americans managed to send a man into space the following month, known as Alan Shepherd. However, he only went into space for about 15 minutes, going vertically up and then coming back down again in what is known as a suborbital loop. The Soviets were the first to send a woman into space, in 1965, and have a man get out of his capsule, while in space, and experience floating in it while tethered do the capsule. This is known as an Extra Vehicular Activity or “space walk” and was also achieved in 1965. The Soviets were the first to send probes to the Moon, Venus and Mars as well. Then the Americans surged ahead and won the space race by successfully landing both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, on 20 July 1969!
Coming back to the Indian space program at ISRO, the country successfully sent its first probe to the Moon, known as Chandriyaan 1, in 2008. It sent a probe to Mars in 2015, which successfully reached the red planet in 2016. That same year, Chandriyaan 2 was sent to the Moon but contact with it was lost for some time before it crashed into the Lunar surface. However, this was more than made up for with Chandriyaan 3 being the first probe to land at the South Pole of the Moon in August 2023! Pictures I took at the planetarium with further information on these incredible launch vehicles are below.
The ISRO now plans to send two people into space to orbit the earth before sending people to the Moon, then setting up a base on the Moon before, ultimately, sending people to Mars! Could India be the next country to send people to the Moon? Could the first man on Mars be an Indian? Well, anything is possible! 🙂
Inside, I took all the below pictures and also had the opportunity to see its video that provided a short history of the Russian (formerly the Soviet Union) and American space programs during the great Space Race of the 50s and 60s. It started with the Soviets launching the world’s first successful satellite in space, known as Sputnik 1, in October 1957. The American equivalent blew up on the launch pad. The Soviets had another first with sending the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin, on 12 April 1961. He orbited the earth in about 109 minutes and then safely landed back in the Soviet Union. The Americans managed to send a man into space the following month, known as Alan Shepherd. However, he only went into space for about 15 minutes, going vertically up and then coming back down again in what is known as a suborbital loop. The Soviets were the first to send a woman into space, in 1965, and have a man get out of his capsule, while in space, and experience floating in it while tethered do the capsule. This is known as an Extra Vehicular Activity or “space walk” and was also achieved in 1965. The Soviets were the first to send probes to the Moon, Venus and Mars as well. Then the Americans surged ahead and won the space race by successfully landing both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, on 20 July 1969!
Coming back to the Indian space program at ISRO, the country successfully sent its first probe to the Moon, known as Chandriyaan 1, in 2008. It sent a probe to Mars in 2015, which successfully reached the red planet in 2016. That same year, Chandriyaan 2 was sent to the Moon but contact with it was lost for some time before it crashed into the Lunar surface. However, this was more than made up for with Chandriyaan 3 being the first probe to land at the South Pole of the Moon in August 2023! Pictures I took at the planetarium with further information on these incredible launch vehicles are below.
The ISRO now plans to send two people into space to orbit the earth before sending people to the Moon, then setting up a base on the Moon before, ultimately, sending people to Mars! Could India be the next country to send people to the Moon? Could the first man on Mars be an Indian? Well, anything is possible! 🙂
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