Rocket Launch in ISRO and Birdwatching

Sriharikota is famous for Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, the Spaceport of India. For birders, this place is famous for Flamingos!

For us Pulicat means “Boating and bird watching” but for once we took an exception to witness some of the most advanced technology in action. When we heard that ISRO had setup a Space Theme Park in Sriharikota and visitors were allowed to watch the launch of the PSLV-C45 , we immediately plunged into action. The Launch was on April 01, 2019 at 9:27 AM and only limited number of visitors were allowed for the launch. All Indians who regularly use IRCTC platform to book train tickets are experts in reserving online tickets within a few seconds. So when we saw that online registration was open for booking tickets, we rushed to fill all our ID, Vehicle Details and booked our ticket for the launch.

This is the Online Registration Website https://www.shar.gov.in/VSCREGISTRATION/index.jsp for booking the tickets. Visitors are not allowed for all launches, so keep checking this website for the ISRO launches if you wish to watch the spectacular man-made event. We were eagerly counting the days for the launch. Just before the day of launch , Vinod got severe fever. I was about to cancel the plan but he insisted on going to the launch as this was an unique opportunity. I printed the tickets and cautiously packed our stuffs as we did not want us to get blocked in security.

Travelling to Sriharikota from Chennai Centre is always a hectic drive, so we started off very early and reached the Sriharikota road at 6.30 AM. We planned to do some birding in those waterbodies and then proceed to Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

During migration season there are large number of plovers in this region. This Lesser sand plover was rummaging in those aquatic plants for food.

But we noticed many armed officials were driving around and we didn’t want to get into trouble for birding near the launch pad on the launch day. So after some brief moments of birding we directly went to the Space Theme Park Entrance and as expected , there were many security checks. We showed our cameras,  Lenses and Tripod which one of the officials didn’t approve. Then after some discussions they decided we were harmless and allowed us to proceed.

The Space Theme Park was opening for the first time to visitors and we felt jubilant for making it on the opening day. We had been to Merritt Island in Florida where NASA Kennedy Space Center is located. But our trip to Merritt Island was purely wildlife as we didn’t want to spend any time in the Space Center. But we always wished to see a satellite launch in ISRO. We proceeded to the Launch Viewing Gallery which had the capacity for holding a crowd of 5000 people. The gallery was constructed in the form of a stadium. The gallery has clear line of sight to the two launch pads of the Sriharikota Range.

The Space theme park in Sriharikota was opening for public for the first time. As one can see , everything was a work in progress.

PSLV C45 Rocket Launch

As we were very early, the gallery was almost empty. So we were hopping on everywhere to find the best view and finally settled on a place to set our tripod. The crowd slowly started coming in and the same with the bright Sun. In the excitement about the launch, none seemed to worry about the scorching Sun. There was a small inauguration function and they had started showing the Scientists working on the PSLV C45 Rocket Launch in a big screen. Mr. Kailasavadivoo Sivan, the Director of ISRO spoke about the Rocket Launch and then the Countdown started.

As the countdown neared people started chanting the numbers too. At 09:27 hrs (IST) the PSLV C45 lifted off successfully. It was an exciting moment when the rocket lifted off and in few seconds all we could see was the trail of plumes . This flight marked the first mission of PSLV-QL, a new variant of PSLV with four strap-on motors.

 I was so immersed in this spectacular event and I turned to see Vinod to share my excitement. Poor guy was so immersed in taking video of the launch, he missed watching it in his naked eye. Even though the video came out wonderfully, some events should be watched directly.  When rockets launch, they leave behind a trail of hot exhaust, also called a plume. At first, a rocket leaves behind a relatively thin plume. But as it climbs higher toward space, the air pressure gets lower. So after few miles, the plumes dramatically expand causing a beautiful smoke trail. The visual looked amazing when the rocket hit the sound barrier and we heard the supersonic boom.

Vinod and myself always love cloud watching. We love to see the different patterns, so we were very excited to see this unique smoke trail pattern on the clouds after the rocket launch.

Now the big event was over, there was a photo session for the newspapers. After that, the crowd started dispersing and we rushed to our car to escape from the traffic line. We drove towards our birding spots in Pulicat Lake. We may have watched a spectacular human ingenuity but leaving Pulicat bird sanctuary without watching birds is a sin we will never commit.

The Greater flamingos are always breathtaking. Their beaks, walking style, neck, feeding behavior never stops amazing us !!

Flamingos in Pulicat Lake

Pulicat Lake is always the best place to see Flamingos and those birds are really very fascinating, especially their dance. It was so hot now and there were heat rays distorting the distant subjects. Still, we hid behind the bushes and watched the Flamingos. We saw few other waders feeding along with the flamingos and then we started off to another birding spot in Sirharikota road.

The lake in that part was half dried up, leaving sediments of salt which looked very scenic in that light.

The salt deposits and other minerals in water gave a very scenic look to the lake. We have never seen any lake in this coloring in India.

We usually hire boats in Pulicat Lake to do bird watching and also enjoy seeing marine organisms like jelly fishes. This trip was very different from our previous Pulicat lake trips. When the rocket was launched and the scientists were shown in screen, we couldn’t stop thinking about how all the great minds in the world are working towards extracting more from the planet rather than preserving it. Vinod and myself are core nature lovers, so we are always tested with bitter truths in real life.  Even though we enjoyed the satellite launch and felt pride about our nation, we know the side affects of human development very well. There  used to be  millions of flamingos and other shore birds in Pulicat lake but now few thousands are left.

So if you ask us whether we need more communication satellites or flamingos, our answer is “Flamingos”.

Now that all the excitements were wearing off, Vinod’s fever was back and we decided to return home. We were not sure whether will be coming back to see any other rocket launches but we will surely be coming back to see birds in Pulicat Lake !