3... 2... 1... Blast-off!
12 dreamy constellations floating in space
A CONSTELLATION is a group of stars that forms a pattern in the sky. It sometimes looks like a mythological character or an animal if you have a good imagination.
Cygnus, Lacerta, Triangulum, Cepheus, the Little Dipper, Lynx, Draco, Hercules, the Big Dipper, Scutum and Orion are names of the constellations on page 2.
11 shiny satellites up in the sky
A SATELLITE is an object that goes around a planet or a star. Earth has a natural satellite -- the moon. Artificial satellites are launched into space for communications, astronomy, and weather studies.
10 busy engineers working on a rocket
Mechanical ENGINEERS, electrical ENGINEERS, and electronics ENGINEERS work together to assemble a rocket.
9 expert scientists calculating the orbit
SCIENTISTS figure out what path the satellite will take when it is in space. The path was called orbit.
8 stable planets going around the sun
Four rocky inner PLANETS -- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars -- and four gassy outer PLANETS -- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune -- make up the eight major PLANETS of our solar system.
Pluto used to be the ninth planet but in 2006, International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided that Pluto was a dwarf planet.
7 icy comets passing through
COMETS are large chunks of ice, rock and gas. They orbit the Sun, but are usually far from Earth. As they pass, they leave a trail that looks like a tail. Some famous comets are Hale-Bopp, Halley, Hyakutake and Shoemaker-Levy.
6 curious people looking through telescopes
TELESCOPES help us see objects that are far, far away like the comets, stars, planets, and moons.
5 small dwarf planets hanging around
DWARF PLANETS are like planets but they are much smaller and they do not yet have a clear path around the Sun. This means that objects like asteroids and comets litter their path. Pluto, Ceres, Eris, Makemake and Haumea make up the five recognized dwarf planets of our solar system.
4 careful workers fueling the rocket
Just like cars need petrol to run, rockets need FUEL to take off and do their job. Rockets can use both liquid fuel and solid fuel.
3 skilled astronauts in their spacesuits
SPACESUITS protect astronauts in space. Suits have oxygen supplies for astronauts to breathe, and also water to drink.
They prevent astronauts from getting too hot or too cold, and keep them safe from space dust.
2 eager kids at the mission control centre...
MISSION CONTROL CENTRE is a room where team leaders get together and make sure the launch goes smoothly and everything works as designed till the mission is complete.
1 roaring rocket ready to soar!
A ROCKET is a self-propelled vehicle that can shoot into space. It is used to launch man-made satellites into space.
Blast-off!
India created a world record in 2017 when it launched 104 satellites from a single rocket, PSLV-C37.
Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh.