Ontario Science Centre celebrated World Space Week

#WorldSpaceWeek; #OntarioScienceCentre; #RoyalAstronomicSocietyofCanada; #MaruškaStrah

Toronto, Oct 14 (Canadian-Media): In celebration of World Space Week (WSW) Ontario Science Centre presented an interactive session yesterday between school children and adults with the Aerospace Team from University of Toronto as well as from Royal Astronomic Society of Canada (RASC) from 6:30 pm to 10:30 pm, media reports said.

Ontario Science Centre

WSW, an international celebration of science and technology for their contribution to the betterment of the human condition, was declared  by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 to be held each year from October 4-10.

The theme of WSW 2018 is “Space Unites the World.” 

WSW was observed in commemoration of two events: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1 on Oct 4, 1957 and  signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies on October 10, 1967.

WSW consists of space education and outreach events held by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools, planetaria, museums, and astronomy clubs around the world synchronizing space events which attract greater public and media attention. 

​School students and the public in the cold night were gathered on the outdoor staircases in front of Aerospace Team from University of Toronto and RASC during the stargazing events last night with this year's theme being “Space Unites The World.”

Many questions were asked by the award-winning design team of university students that designs and builds drones, satellites and, of course, rockets.

Questions and answers sessions were held on the constituents of rockets, the drones and about the programming involved in the making of the rocket aircrafts parts, aout the new policies and procedures of the aerospace system etc

They talked about space system, about  building satellites for research and education, for Microbiology studies and added their intention was to launch the next satellite into space between Nov 2019 and Jan 2020  with the funding help from the the University of Toronto. They continued to state that they had finished the designing part of the satellite system which would be tested to see if the designs actually work.

Natalie Panek from RASC was also present to give a brief introduction of their work and updated the audience about their questions and concerns.

WSW is coordinated by the United Nations with the support of the WSW Association (WSWA), an international non-government, non-profit organization incorporated in the United States in 1982 and leads a global team of National Coordinators, who promote the celebration of World Space Week within their own countries with the goals to provide unique leverage in space outreach and education, for economical development, to promote  science, technology, engineering, and math​ among the children and youth and to foster international cooperation in space outreach and education.

​Some highlights of this celebration of space in some 80 nations include: Video wishing “Happy World Space Week” in different languages from around the world, Special advance screenings of National Geographic’s Mars2 in the United States just for World Space Week, Ladies Do Launch, a series of panel interviews in front of live audiences, with women in the space industry, will be held in various cities in the United States, IMAX will be releasing a series of mini space documentaries and short interviews with astronauts during every day of WSW 2018. 

WSW 2018 has broken records with an estimated 4,000+ events held globally October 4-10. A total of 4,413 World Space Week 2018 events were reported in 93 countries over 3,000 organizations.
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“These are all new records, and the numbers are expected to grow as reports continue to come in,” said Maruška Strah, the Association’s Executive Director.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)​