ACJ students cover ISRO satellite launch August 31, 2017

A group of students from different streams at the Asian College of Journalism was part of the media contingent that covered the launch of India’s navigation satellite IRNSS-1H from Sriharikota on August 31.

A few days before the launch, the students were taken to the ISRO guesthouse in Pallavaram to collect their passes. They were accompanied by T S Subramaniam, Associate Editor of Frontline magazine.

Dr. B R Guruprasad, public relations officer for Indian Space Research Organisation briefed the students. The IRNSS1-H satellite was to be a part of India’s NaVIC satellite constellation, a home-grown version of GPS and intended for regional use.

On 31st August, ISRO had arranged buses to take the media to Sriharikota island.

About the launch, Anjali Venugopalan, one of the students, wrote in her report “A ball of fire, much like a mini-sun, lit up the night sky as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C39) lifted off. Within a few minutes, however, the euphoria died down as news broke that the mission had failed.”

“At the media centre ISRO chairman Dr.A S Kiran Kumar said the satellite’s heat shield had failed to separate, and so it could not be placed in orbit.”

“However, it was a rewarding experience for all of us student journalists. It was an introduction to science journalism at the cutting edge of space research in India.”

While some students wrote reports as part of their assignments, others shot videos and went live with the event on Facebook.