Bhubaneswar: In order to commemorate the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission, with the safe landing of Vikram Lander, and deployment of Pragyan Rover on the lunar surface August 23, 2023, Regional Science Centre (RSC) here celebrated National Space Day (NSD) Friday. RSC organised various events for the students and visitors to recall the achievements and contributions of the scientists in space science and technology. On the occasion, an exhibition, ‘Moon Mission’ was set up at RSC to explore the success story of ISRO’s Moon Mission programme ‘Chandrayaan’. The day commenced with the inauguration of the exhibition by cosmologist and founder director of Pacific Institute of Cosmology and Selfology Shibesh Kumar, who also conducted an interactive session on ‘Cosmic Curiosity: Astronomy, Telescopes and Developing Scientific Temper’. Kumar helped the participating students understand the basics of the solar system and planetary motion. He also emphasised the need to develop a scientific temperament among young minds. The programme included a demonstration of different types of telescopes and an activity on telescope making. Project coordinator Kapil Jain assured to continue to such initiatives for educating the young minds about space sciences.
Students from various institutions, including Mother’s Public School and University High School, Vani Vihar took part in the event. NSD was also celebrated at Odisha Space Research Application Centre (ORSAC) here, Friday in the presence of Science and Technology (S&T) Minister Krushna Chandra Patra. S&T Principal Secretary Chithra Arumugam joined the programme as guest of honour and spoke on this year’s theme ‘Touching Lives while Touching the Moon: India’s Space Saga’. On the occasion, Patra planted a sapling at ORSAC premises and felicitated the participating students in the quiz competition.