Article Posted on : - Oct 03, 2010

NEW DELHI (PTI): Astro-enthusiasts are in for a treat as the World Space Week 2010 will commence from Monday, during which a plethora of astronomy-related events will be conducted across India.

The theme of the WSW this year is "The Mysteries of the Cosmos".

Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE), an NGO, will be celebrating the WSW with great enthusiasm along with educational institutions and communities across the country.

The week-long carnival includes activities like comet making, hydro-rocketry workshops, astronomy webcasts, a night sky observing trip and face painting for kids.

To commemorate the first Sputnik launch on October 4, 1957, a film on it will also be shown.

World Space Week Association is a nonprofit, international organisation founded in 1981, and a partner of the United Nations in coordination of World Space Week -- the largest public space event on Earth.

WSW was started in 2000 and since then has taken place every year on October 4-10. This year, it will be celebrated in 55 nations across the world.

The objective of the Week is to celebrate contributions of space science and technology for the betterment of the human condition.

The two dates commemorate two historic events -- on October 4, 1957, the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1 was launched and October 10, 1967 marks the signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

"World Space Week is the time each year when the public can learn about the many benefits of space exploration, and students are inspired through space to excel in school," President of the World Space Week Association Dennis Stone said in a message.

The association plans to hold several events, including Google Lunar X Prize Summit on the Isle of Man in UK, Festival of Astronomy in Marrakech, Morocco, public lectures about space engineering and astronomy in Helsinki, Finland, inauguration of mobile planetarium and telescope in Kerala's Thrissur, star camp for high school students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, solar and radio observations in Mexico and Rocktober skies, a regional rocket launch in Alabama, USA.