Truck Carrying Space Machinery Reaches Thiruvananthapuram From Nashik After One Year

KOCHI: After covering four states and travelling for a year, a truck from Maharashtra carrying heavy, sophisticated machinery for a space research project at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram has reached there on Sunday, July 19.

The truck carrying an Aerospace Horizontal Autoclave which is used to make weightless material, set off last year on July 8 from Maharashtra for the VSSC in Thiruvananthapuram. The machine weighs about 70 tonnes and has a height and width of 7.5 metres and 6.65 metres respectively.

The machine which is manufactured in Nashik will soon be commissioned for the Indian space research project.

"We started the journey on July 8, 2019, from Maharashtra. Now after travelling for one year and across four states, we have reached Thiruvananthapuram. We hope to deliver the cargo today (Sunday) at VRCC," a staff member travelling with the cargo said, as quoted by a news agency.

The truck was moving 5 kilometres a day and after travelling through four states, it reached its destination at Thiruvananthapuram. There are 32 staff members accompanying the truck, as reported by the news agency.

"We are using ropes to carry the cargo's weight. It's being pulled by two axles, front and back. Both have 32 wheels each and the puller has 10 wheels. The puller is pulling it all. Drop deck weighs 10 tonnes and the cargo weighs 78 tonnes. The weight is distributed on the two axles," the official was quoted saying.

(Inputs from ANI)