BENGALURU: Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium on Sunday celebrated World Space Week with activities aimed at encouraging students to develop a deeper interest in space science and astronomy. Around 300 students from Classes 6 to 10, parents and teachers, participated.
The event was inaugurated by Raghavendra MR, the director of ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network, Bengaluru. It featured a lecture on Mars rovers by Planetarium Director Dr BR Guruprasad, a space and astronomy quiz, a painting competition on ‘Reaching Mars via Moon’ and a Mars rover-making workshop.
Guruprasad said the objective was not merely to create awareness about space, as students were already familiar with the subject, but to help them appreciate the scientific developments and benefits that stemmed from space exploration.
He said hands-on activities and such programmes provide students an opportunity to learn beyond textbooks and can enthuse them to pursue science. “Whatever India has achieved in science has to be sustained and enhanced. Unless we enthuse young students, we cannot take this forward,” he said.
The response from students reflected their growing interest in the subject. Rupti, a Class 10 student who participated in the quiz, said she was interested in space and astronomy and found the programme a good opportunity to gain knowledge.
A Class 8 student said participating in such events motivates him to learn about new space missions and recent developments in astronomy. He said preparing for the quiz introduced him to areas of space science that he never knew about.
Around 50 students participated in the painting competition, while the Mars Rover activity engaged students in a practical workshop.