When the entire nation was submerged in the splendor of IPL and the Indian New year in the middle of April, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was gearing up for something new and something more challenging. April 15, 2010 was supposed to be a red letter day in the history of Indian space mission when the GSLV MK II was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. GSLV stands for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Satellites move around a planet on certain pathways called orbits. The moon is a natural satellite and moves in an orbit of a mean distance of 384,000 km from the surface of the earth. Coming back, there are basically three types of orbits on which satellites move around the earth: 1) Polar orbits: this orbit lies more or less above the north and south poles and allows the satellite to look over almost every part of the earth. 2) Sun-synchronous orbits: the climate of a place can be determined by satellites which move in sun-synchronous satellites. The satellites move over a given place at one particular time of the day. 3) Geosynchronous orbit: the satellites moving in geosynchronous orbits have a period of revolution of 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds, same as the time-period for earth rotation. We can watch a match being played in South Africa or any other part of the world with the help of these satellites. Going by the name, GSLV is a launch vehicle. A launch vehicle is a means or a carrier of the satellites. We use a vehicle; say a truck, to move luggage from one place to another. Similarly, the satellites, made on earth need a means to reach the outer space and this means is the launch vehicle. The satellite and all other indispensable stuff which the launch … [Read more...]