Students, experts interact at World Space Week celebrations

Bengaluru: Around 100 students gathered at Bengaluru's Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium (JNP) on Sunday for an interactive talk, celebrating World Space Week 2024.

AS Kiran Kumar, former Isro chairman and current chairman of the Bangalore Association for Science and Education, inspired students to discover their personal purpose rather than allowing others to define it.

"Students should find what brings them joy and benefits society, and strive to pursue that path," he said. "They need to think for themselves, not just follow like robots."

PJ Bhat, former director of the UR Rao Satellite Centre at Isro, and Deviprasad Karnik, former Isro director of Publications and Public Relations, also engaged with students.

The attendees, ranging from school to university level, posed questions on topics from space science to geopolitics and philosophy.

World Space Week, celebrated annually from October 4 to 10, was declared by the United Nations General Assembly on December 6, 1999. The dates honour two significant milestones in space history: the launch of the first human-made satellite, Sputnik 1, by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, and the signing of the Outer Space Treaty, the foundation of international space law, on October 10, 1967.