The Hindu : Front Page : EDUSAT: turning homes into classrooms

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

Front Page

EDUSAT: turning homes into classrooms

By T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI, SEPT. 19. The final countdown for the launch of the Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-FO1) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, "is proceeding smoothly as per schedule and there are no hitches," according to the Indian Space Research Organisation officials.

The final countdown began at 1 a.m. today and the GSLV will lift off at 4.01 p.m. tomorrow. It will place EDUSAT, the world's first exclusive satellite for beaming programmes in education, in a geosynchronous transfer orbit, with an apogee of 36,000 km and a perigee of 180 km.

Distance education

The EDUSAT is set to revolutionise distance education in the country, converting homes into virtual classrooms. Through EDUSAT, a teacher from a television studio can simultaneously address hundreds of students in different schools/colleges in various parts of the country if the educational institutions have a terminal to receive the programme.

If they have interactive facilities, the students can put questions to the teacher and receive his replies too. The students can see the teacher, hear him, put questions to him and receive his replies.

Thus, EDUSAT will address the paucity of good teachers in different subjects. It will be an instrument for imparting arts, science, medical, engineering, veterinary and agricultural education, and non-formal education.

The ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, has built the 1,950-kg EDUSAT, which will last seven years in the sky.

Brisk activity is under way at the massive GSLV launch complex of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) at Sriharikota, about 80 km from here, for the GSLV-FO1 launch. K. Narayana, Director, SDSC, said: "We are getting ready for the launch. The launch window is between 4.01 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. The vehicle and the satellite have been integrated."

All the checks on the vehicle and the satellite were over by September 14.

The 76-metre-tall Mobile Service Tower, where the vehicle was integrated vertically, was moved out on its huge wheels on a rail track, and the vehicle stands on the launch platform now.

The filling of liquid propellants in the vehicle started around 1 a.m. today.

The filling of cryogenic propellants — liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen — in the third, topmost stage of the vehicle will begin at 12 noon tomorrow. The core first stage arrived with the solid propellants cast in.

Operational flight

This is the first operational flight of GSLV, built by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. The previous GSLV flights on April 18, 2001 and May 8, 2003 were developmental missions.

They launched GSAT-1 and GSAT-2 communication satellites. Mr. Narayana said the GSLV-FO1 "is more or less identical" to the previous (second) GSLV.

A huge three-stage vehicle, the GSLV is 49 metres tall and weighs 414 tonnes. Its core first stage, which develops brute thrust, is powered by solid propellants.

Around this first stage are strung four booster engines, fuelled by liquid propellants. The second stage is energised by liquid propellants. Cryogenic fluids propel the third stage. Russia has supplied the cryogenic stage.

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EDUSAT: turning homes into classrooms