World Space Week is being celebrated at home and abroad. This year as in other years, the week is being celebrated in the country and abroad through various events. This year’s theme is ‘Women in Space’ or ‘Women in Space’.
World Space Week is celebrated around the world from 4 to 10 October every year. It is the largest space event in the world. According to the data of 2019, more than 6 thousand events have been organized in 98 countries of the world on this occasion. Various space agencies, astronomy clubs, museums and many other organizations organize these events. In 1999, the United Nations declared October 4-10 as World Space Week and said it would be celebrated as an annual event. This week has been celebrated every year since then. The event was organized by the World Space Week and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.
There has been only one event in Bangladesh on this occasion. An organization called Bhromi organized the event called ‘Tarader Gaan’. The event took place on Friday night, October 6, on the banks of the Dhaleshwari River in Dhaka. Monthly Science Thinking was a magazine partner with Bhromi’s event.
Besides, various events are being held in different countries of the world. Some notable events are:
The US Space and Rocket Center, located in Huntsville, Alabama, USA, hosts 7 days of competitions and giveaways. However, their main event was ‘Women in different missions’. This event is about the achievements of women working in NASA in the past, present and future.
The Space Foundation will organize the 12th annual Space Foundation International Student Drawing Competition. It is a non-profit organization that deals with various space-related events and educational activities. Details about the competition can be found at this link: art.spacefoundation.org/ .
The U.S. Institute for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SATI), Unisteller and The Planetary Society will host some virtual events, observation challenges and various competitions. These include virtual events, painting competitions, etc. to learn more about women astronauts.
The International Astronomical Organization organizes ‘100 Hours on Astronomy’.
The Society for Space Education Research and Development (SARD) of India organized a two-week event. They organize webinars, workshops and various competitions. Keep an eye on this link: outreach.sserd.org/ for details on webinars and other events .
The European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) organizes a variety of events in various countries, including Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Norway.
The United Nations Outer Space Affairs is running a social media campaign on the occasion. The theme of this campaign is ‘Women in Space’. Details can be found at this link: space4women.unoosa.org .
Apart from this, various organizations from home and abroad have organized many more. These programs can be found on the website of the World Space Agency. Website link: www.worldspaceweek.org .
The World Space Agency hopes that this event will further increase gender equality in space research, missions and related fields and in science. Besides, more teenagers will be interested in this case, that is their expectation.
