The VSSC Space Museum is located inside the Vikram
Sarabhai Space Centre campus at Thumba, 12 kilometers north of
Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. It is less than 5 kilometers
from
Kochuveli Railway Station where trains to cities such as Bengaluru
start.
The pictures of the museum on its website at
http://www.isro.org/scripts/spacemuseum-flash.aspx convinced us that it has
better things to offer unlike most other museums. So, we decided to give it a
try on our visit to Trivandrum. There were no information available online
offering details about visiting the museum such as the visiting hours or the
entrance fee or the visiting schedule. So, we just drove in and then started
the fun.
Since the museum is inside a secure military campus, we
were asked to go to a different military campus near the Veli Railway Station
to get passes for entry. Our taxi was not allowed inside the campus and one
adult from our party was asked to take a special bus that runs inside the
campus to go to a particular office. Once there, one had to convince several
officers to prove our intentions as family to visit the museum and also prove
our Indian Citizenship. Apparently only Indian Citizens are allowed inside the
museum. We did not carry our passports and a credit card came in handy. After
much convincing, we were able to get passes for our family. The entry to the
museum was free.
After getting the passes for the entry, we were told that
all the hassles of getting an entry pass could be avoided if a letter (snail
mail) were written to the following address requesting permission to visit the
museum ahead of time.
Administrative Officer,
Public Relations,
VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram - 695 022.
Tel : 0471-2565649, 2564292, 2565666
Fax : 0471-2564060
E-mail : pro@vssc.gov.in
The request should contain information like visitor's
name, age, affiliation (unclear as to what) and occupation. It seems then a
pass would be ready for the day of the visit. The same procedure is to be used
to witness a rocket launch.
We then drove back to the museum campus where we were
asked to handover our cameras, cell phone and other mobile devices and alas we
were at the beautiful St.Mary Magdalene Church that houses the museum. There
were a few outdoor exhibits on the impeccably maintained grounds and the
striking one was a life size model of a rocket. It was good enough for the kids
to see for themselves how tall a rocket really is.
We were asked to remove our shoes and had to handover our
passes to the staff in a nearby building before we went in. The staff was
chatting casually and didn't seem to expect any visitors. The insides of the
museum were well maintained, clean with good air-conditioning. The exhibits
were well described and the models of the various Indian satellites elaborated
on their historical evolution. Overall the museum explained well India's
standing in the field of Space Technology. There were guides inside the museum
who were happy to just be chatting among themselves.
Keep an hour to visit the museum and entry is allowed from
9:30 hours to 15:30 hours on all VSSC working days.
I wonder why such a beautiful, well-staffed museum has a
tedious procedural access. The VSCC Space Museum has the potential to educate
and inspire the next generation to contribute to India’s progress in Space Technology.
