Every year, from October 4 to 10, people around the world celebrate World Space Week, dedicated to the contribution of science, engineering, and space technologies to improving life on Earth.

It is hard to imagine that back in 1957, when tuning an ordinary radio receiver to the right frequency made it possible to hear the famous “beep-beep-beep” transmitted from space by the first artificial satellite of Earth, anyone could have imagined that one day we would use GPS navigation to find our way, access satellite internet and television, and receive weather forecasts and traffic alerts from space.

As space technology developed throughout the 20th century, it also brought into our everyday lives such things as memory-foam insoles and pillows, disposable diapers, freeze-dried food, emergency thermal blankets, water purification systems, scratch-resistant eyeglass lenses, and miniature electronics. Technologies, materials, and solutions originally developed for space now literally fit in our pockets, reminding us of the rapid evolution of spacecraft and launch vehicles themselves — the theme chosen for this year’s World Space Week: Rocket Revolution.

This theme is especially meaningful for Dnipro, known as a city of rocket engineering. That is why the contribution of Ukrainians to space exploration and the evolution of rocketry holds a special place in the permanent exhibition at Planetarium Noosphere Dnipro. Examples of the modern private space industry, developed by international IT and space technology entrepreneur Max Polyakov — Firefly launch vehicles and EOS SAT and Dragonfly satellites — are displayed alongside a historical collection of rocket models, ranging from spacecraft designed under the leadership of Serhii Korolov to the Zenit-3SL launch vehicles developed in Dnipro by Pivdenne Design Office and Pivdenmash. The exhibition is complemented by an infographic highlighting Ukraine’s outstanding achievements in the aerospace industry.

The theme of this year’s World Space Week inspired the team of Planetarium Noosphere Dnipro to prepare something special for our visitors: the STEAM workshop for children aged 6 to 12, “Forward to the Stars!”, and a new themed program, “The Dream of Flight: From the Hot-Air Balloon to Spacecraft.”

The STEAM workshop “Forward to the Stars!” is an exciting quest in which children will play and experiment while developing their creative thinking and origami skills. They will explore how to reach space, why neither a hot-air balloon nor an airplane can take us there, what makes a spacecraft lift off, and which ordinary household object works according to the same principle. In just an hour and a half, participants will follow a path of discoveries and inventions that humanity’s scientific and technological imagination took several centuries to travel. At the end, they will experience a spectacular simulation of a flight into outer space alongside different generations of spacecraft. We promise plenty of fun — and a paper plane folded by the participants themselves.

The program “The Dream of Flight: From the Hot-Air Balloon to Spacecraft” invites visitors to experience the thrill of flight that humanity has dreamed of since ancient times. In the Star Theater, audiences will see the hot-air balloon invented by the Montgolfier brothers, observe a solar eclipse from aboard an aircraft, and recall how the Wright brothers built the first airplane in an ordinary bicycle workshop in the United States — and how aviation was further developed by our brilliant compatriot Ihor Sikorskyi. They will also see rockets and the first artificial satellite of Earth developed under the leadership of Serhii Korolov; the re-entry capsules in which spacecraft crews returned to Earth; the Space Shuttles; the Eagle lunar module, which enabled human beings to take their first steps on the Moon; and the International Space Station. The journey will also invite visitors to consider how the experience of constructing the International Space Station in Earth orbit could one day help us build the spacecraft that will take humanity to Mars.

Don’t miss the opportunity to visit Planetarium Noosphere Dnipro during World Space Week. Here, you can truly see that space is closer than we think — and that our thirst for knowledge and our imagination are the driving forces behind the discoveries and inventions that make the world a better place.