A visit to VSSC Space Museum near Trivandrum, Kerala

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.