Reaching for the moon: Astronomy tours give Delhi’s stargazers a taste of Isro’s exploits

For the past few weeks Sarvesh Bhardwaj, 31, has been busy developing a model of Chandrayaan-2 rover, a wheeled robotic vehicle, in his second-floor laboratory-cum-office in a bustling Dwarka market. Paintings and posters of planets, astronauts, rockets and spaceships adorn the walls of his office. “This DIY model, which we have developed for school students and space buffs will be ready before Chandrayaan-2 lands on the moon on September 7,” says Bhardwaj, 31, a graduate of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), showing the model, which like the real rover, has an infrared camera, spectrometer, metal detector, soil tester, transmitter and receivers, all connected to a microcontroller.

“The idea is to give them practical knowledge of the ISRO’s latest mission to the moon. They are no longer interested in mere stargazing, but also in STEM concepts that drive space technology,” says Bhardwaj, founder, SDRO (Science Development Research Organisation), which calls itself an ‘astronomy company’. For the uninitiated , STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Founded in 2014, Bhardwaj’s SDRO conducts CubeSat workshops and STEM challenges for school students as well as astronomy buffs. CubeSats are miniaturised satellites, made up of several cubicle units, hence the name.

And now, the company is going to open a chain of astronomy retail store in malls. Bhardwaj has recently opened one in Reliance mall in Dwarka. Cashing on the buzz around ISRO’s big strides in space technology, several companies have come up in the past few years offering everything from astronomy expeditions to astrophotography tours, observatories with small museums, astronomy resorts, and online and offline astronomy stores.

The Star Gate, for example, has set up private observatories with GPS-enabled automatic telescopes, lenses and other gear. The Gurugram-based company also organises astro tours and astrophotography workshops, where astronomy buffs are taught how to shoot Milky Way and other galaxies. Similarly, Delhi-based Astroport India runs a chain of astroports across the country—a concept that combines astronomy, adventure and leisure activities.

The founders of these companies say what drives them is the people’s growing fascination with celestial affairs. “Until the late eighties, there was a lot of interest and excitement among people about astronomy and space science after Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian astronaut to travel in space. But after that, there was a lull for almost three decades, with astronomy remaining confined to a few hobbyists. Mangalyaan revived common people’s interest in astronomy and space science,” says Ramashish Ray, founder, Star Gate, which set up observatories in Kausani in Uttarakhand in 2017 and Sariska in Rajasthan last year.

The observatories also have museums with interactive exhibits, including models of rockets and space ships, weighing scales, mock-up of NASA’s Mars rover, and pictures of space missions of ISRO and NASA.

Ray, who has a corporate background and is an astronomy buff since childhood, says about 50,000 people visit his observatories every year, a majority of them between March to June. “Whether it is the moon or the Orion Nebula, they can see everything from our facilities. About 70 per cent of people come with families, and 30 per cent are young astronomy buffs who attend astrophotography workshops and expeditions. There has been a 200 per cent growth in the number of visitors in the past two years. Encouraged by the response, we plan to open seven more observatories by next year,” says Ray.

Delhi-based Sachin Bahmba set up Astroport India in 2017, an astro-tourism company that runs a chain of six astroports --- three of them were set up last year --- in places such as Sariska, Jaipur, and Ranthambore. The astroports organise activities aimed at what he calls ‘exploring and understanding’ the universe such as ‘living in space,’ astrophotography, star gazing and rocket launching. “I have always believed the skies put up wonderful shows for us, some of which you can watch from anywhere in the world, and for others, we need to travel to locations where we can see the night sky clearly. We have developed astroports at such locations,” says Bahmba, who wants to set up 30 more astroports in and A and B category towns across the country by 2021.

“I introduced the concept of astroports in India. By the end of 2020, we will also set up virtual reality space labs, which will provide a simulated space environment for training students and give astronaut-like experience to space buffs,” adds Bahmba, 45, who organised India’s first chartered flight for astronomy enthusiasts to chase a total solar eclipse in 2009 and a cruise that followed annular eclipse in 2010. “After the Chandrayaan-2 lands on the moon, we will be creating scale models of its journey from the earth to the moon at our astroports. It will allow people to walk from the earth to the moon, following the same trajectory as the Chandrayaan 2, giving them the experience of its journey to the moon,” he says.

For those who cannot travel to its observatories, Star Gate brings observatories to their home. “We have developed the concept of mobile observatory, and have set up temporary observatories at 50 condominiums in Gurugram so far. In Delhi and NCR people can easily see the planets, though the galaxies are difficult to spot because of light pollution,” says Ray. “There is a growing demand for mobile observatories, what with the fact that people are increasingly getting hooked to the giant cinema screen that the sky is.”

Aryan Mishra, 19, a Delhi- based amateur astronomer, who is credited with discovering an asteroid at the age of 14, agrees. “Some of my friends who were not at all interested in astronomy now want to know everything about celestial bodies. Movies such as Mission Mangal are also fuelling interest in astronomy and space science,” says Mishra. Last year, Mishra founded Spark Astronomy, a company that sets up astronomy labs in schools and organises sky-gazing events in Delhi and NCR.

“The government should create dark sky zones across the country, where building construction should not be allowed, and also make efforts to save night sky in cities to promote astronomy,” says Mishra, adding, “I want to open private co-working spaces for research on astronomy. The government has the best observatories in the country, but unfortunately, they are not accessible to amateur astronomers.”

There is also a growing market for astronomy and space merchandise. Unlike NASA, while ISRO does not yet have its own merchandise store, there are a lot of products – T-shirts, mugs with ISRO logo--being sold on e-commerce stores such as Amazon and Flipkart.

“By October we will be launching both online and offline merchandise stores,” says Bahmba, who currently runs an online shop, called Spacearcade that sells everything from telescopes, binoculars, goggles, and other astronomy gear. Star Gate observatories also have what Ray calls ‘space shops’ selling astronomy gear.

Pune-based Indo Science Education Trust, a non-profit organisation, puts up space exhibitions in schools and housing societies across Maharashtra, with help from ISRO-UoP Space Technology Cell at Pune University. The exhibition offers models of PSLV, GSLV, satellites, Chandrayaan-1and Mangalyaan and panels on how ISRO technology is helping common people. “ISRO’s unparalleled feats such as the launching of 104 satellites in a single mission has instilled in people a sense of pride about the country’s space capabilities, and has generated a new interest in space science and ISRO’s missions,” says Santosh Pise, founder of the trust.

He is not exaggerating. Several posts relating to Chandrayaan 2 on ISRO’s official Facebook page has over 72,000 likes and as many as 16,000 shares and thousands of comments each—an indicator of people’s growing interest in its space missions. India’s space agency celebrated its golden jubilee year on August 15 this year and also launched centenary year celebrations of Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, its founder on August 12. “We organise exhibitions in the clubhouses of housing societies. Our recent space exhibition at a housing society had 3,000 visitors,” says Pise, an astronomy buff who runs a real estate company. “In fact, we plan to start astronomy and space clubs in housing societies. We are currently in talks with many of them.”