The image of the moon appeared on the big screen of the auditorium. Spacecraft Apollo-11’s Lunar Module ‘Eagle’ landed on the Moon. Neil Armstrong stepped slowly. History thus was written on the surface of moon. The auditorium full of children and teenagers were amazed to see the story of civilization is being written as a triumph of human in indomitable courage, effort and innovation.
This scene was displayed at the Astronaut Camp held in Cox’s Bazar, a joint initiative of Bangladesh Innovation Forum, Space Innovation Camp and Better to Gether BD with students aged 4 to 14 years to encourage children and teenagers in space science and inform them about various aspects of space.
The camp was held on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at Shahid Subhash Hall of Cox’s Bazar Institute and Public Library Auditorium.
According to the organizers, the day-long event included space talk about Apollo-11 mission, Mars rover, moon rover, model rocket making, space robot making, VR base astronaut training and quiz competition and so on. Apart from this, as a special surprise, there was an astronaut photo booth where children and teenagers dressed up as astronauts and took pictures.
Around 500 students from various schools in and around Cox’s Bazar participated in the day-long event with great joy and enthusiasm.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Cox’s Bazar Tapti Chakma was present as the chief guest and Md. Nasir Uddin, District Education Officer, Cox’s Bazar and Principal Yasin Arafat of BIAM Laboratory School and College and Md. Salam Sarwar, Chief Executive Officer, Cox’s Bazar Municipality were present as special guests. Also, Nahian Al Rahman, the mastermind of the first rocket made in the country was present.
While speaking as the chief guest, Tapti Chakma said, “I am very happy that this kind of activity is happening in Cox’s Bazar and I think, more and more such camps are needed to develop science and technology and encourage the next generation in space science.
Ariful Hasan Apu, president of Bangladesh Innovation Forum and advisor of NASA Space Apps Challenge Bangladesh, said that Bangladesh Innovation Forum is working to make 10 lakh students interested in science by 2028. Students have a lot to learn about, we want to continue the joy of science through small activities in space exploration and make them more interested in science.
Easy Com, Babylon Resources, Robust Research and Development Limited and Center for Human Research and Development Foundation were the support partners in the event; The payment partner was Surya Pay.