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National Geographic and BITM Kolkata celebrate Chandrayaan 2 with a launch of a 3-day space film festival,culminating with a live screening of Chandrayaan 2
One of a kind space festival in India. Film screenings to be supported by expert sessions and quizzes to provide a deeper understanding of space exploration
Kolkata, August 30, 2019: Celebrating India’s most ambitious space mission yet, National Geographic, in an endeavor to give unprecedented access to its viewers, is premiering Chandrayaan 2 Live, a unique show which will be covering the landing of Chandrayaan 2 on the moon. This will be broadcast live on National Geographic and hotstar. Expert interviews, trivia and other interesting stories will lead up to the last 15 minutes which will determine the destiny of this mission. This initiative comes after the brand’s yearlong celebration of Space program ‘Starstruck’ which featured the very best of space programming including the critically acclaimed series Mars and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing last month.
Staying true to its legacy of immersive and authentic storytelling, National Geographic is currently conducting a space film festival leading to theChandrayaan 2 Live, in collaboration with the Birla Industrial & Technological Museum. From lectures by experts to interactive space science quizzes, the weeklong celebration will continue till September 7, 2019 and is aimed to engage with students on space exploration and fuel their passion on the topic.
As a part of the collaboration, BITM today hosted a lecture session by Prof. Somak Raychaudhury, Director of The Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics on Chandrayaan 2. Prof. Somak Raychaudhury before joining IUCAA, was associated with Physics/Astrophysics Departments of Presidency University, University of Birmingham, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, University of Cambridge and Harvard University. The lecture addressed school students who participated in the mega event, followed by Open House Quiz on ‘Space Science’ in which 20 questions were asked to the school students and spot prizes were distributed.
In addition to this, a live screening of the Chandrayaan 2 landing will take place at BITM on 7th September, 12:30 am onwards. The live event will be hosted by Gaurav Kapur and will feature retired United States Navy flight surgeon and NASA astronaut, Dr. Jerry Leninger as well as other experts as part of this special event.
As a prelude to the mission, BITM will also organize a film festival featuring some exciting and path-breaking films from National Geographic. The film festival scheduled from 2nd September to 5th September will feature some of the very best space content from National Geographic such as Mangalyaan, Apollo Missions to the Moon, Mission Pluto, and Mission Saturn.
The entry for the festival is free of cost and people can watch these spectacular films in either of the two time-slots per day. More details on the festival can be found on www.bitm.gov.in or log in to BITM YouTube account to catch the live telecast of the lecture by clicking on this link.
Commenting on the association with BITM, Nat Geo spokesperson said, “We are elated to collaborate with BITM Kolkata to organise space content related activities celebrating India’s most ambitious space mission yet. Our live show based on the Chandrayaan 2 landing will divulge the touchdown of the lander near the lunar south-pole. As a precursor to this historic event, we have planned a series of events which are aimed at inspiring our future generation of explorers and scientists, and create curiosity among the school students about the mission, which attempts to foster a new age of discovery and increase their understanding of space.”
Commenting on the activation, Director of BITM, V. S, Ramachandran said, “We are glad to associate with National Geographic for engaging and inspiring students with their world-class storytelling about science and space marking the celebrations of Chandrayaan 2 landing. We are also excited to host the live screening of the landing through National Geographic’s real time feed and make this historic moment accessible to the wider audience.”
Eleven years after the country’s first expedition to the moon, India is all set to explore the unchartered part of space with its second lunar explorationChandrayaan-2. Developed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the Chandrayaan-2 will attempt to soft land on the moon’s South Polar Region in Sep 2019.
