THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The renovated planetarium at the Kerala State Science and Technology Museum(KSSTM) will be ready for commercial opening by the second week of July, KSSTM officials said.
The new imported dome of the planetarium has been erected and work is progressing on installing the projectors, KSSTM director Arul Jerald Prakash said on Tuesday.
“The installation of the dome was completed on May 23 and the main projector is being installed now. We hope to have test screenings by the last week of June or the first week of July,” he said. “We hope to throw open the facility to the public by the second week of July,” he added.
The installation of the dome had run into problems earlier this year and KSSTM had to go in for a whole new design, which has delayed the re-opening. German firm Carl Zeiss is supplying the tilted, seamless dome. It has a diameter of 17 metres and weighs 3.5 tonnes. The images of celestial bodies are projected on to this dome.
The original dome of the planetarium had been a 25-year-old Japanese one, which had a diameter of 15 metres. KSSTM had decided on full-fledged renovation in a bid to offer visitors a better viewing experience. KSSTM is spending approximately Rs 12.5 crore on the mega project. The planetarium had been closed down for the renovation last year.
Although it was earlier announced that it would be ready by January 2015, delays had hit the project. In January, after problems arose with the installation of the dome, the opening date had been shifted to April. KSSTM officials are also trying to get former President A P J Abdul Kalam for inaugural function of the renovated planetarium.
