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Nehru Planetarium set for revamp, India’s space achievements to take centre stage
Makeover of 40-year-old facility to begin by year end; upgraded gallery will feature interactive screens, new shows on ISRO’s latest missions, developments in the field of astronomy
Visitors at the Nehru Planetarium in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR
Nehru Planetarium is getting ready for a revamp by the year end, with its gallery set to feature by 2025 new interactive screens focusing on India’s latest space missions and developments in the field of astronomy.
The Capital’s sole planetarium located on Teen Murti Marg was opened to the public in 1984. Over the years, space and astronomy enthusiasts have been making a beeline for its high-resolution projections of stars in the night sky, dedicated section on Indian astronauts, and the Soyuz T-10 spacecraft that brought home Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian astronaut to travel in space.
Prerna Chandra, programme manager of the planetarium, said a lot of hard work has gone into ensuring that the facility serves as a space for learning. New interactive and informative display screens will be installed in the planetarium’s gallery during the revamp, she said.
In 2023, the planetarium had introduced an upgraded 3D projection system with shows in 3D (priced at ₹200) and 2D (₹150) in both English and Hindi on robotic explorers, celestial objects, and astronomers, which offered visitors an immersive space travel experience. The estimated cost of the project was ₹17 crore.
Tie-up with ISRO
The planetarium has now teamed up with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to incorporate the country’s latest space missions into its shows.
Ms. Chandra said the ISRO has borrowed the Soyuz T-10 spacecraft for research purposes as it is preparing for the Gaganyaan mission, which aims to send a team of Indian astronauts to low-earth orbit onboard an Indian launch vehicle. The planetarium in coordination with the ISRO is working on a show related to the mission, which may be opened to visitors in a few years.
Ms. Chandra said a team from the National Council of Science Museums, an autonomous society under the Ministry of Culture tasked with assessing the activities of science museums in the country, had recently visited the planetarium and noted down areas that require revamp.
Supervisory panel
She added that steps have begun to upgrade the displays at the planetarium and a committee will be formed soon to oversee the process. The committee will also finalise the estimated cost of the project and the date to begin the revamp.
There was a plan to launch a special programme on the ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 mission, which came close to landing a rover on the moon. The programme aimed to explore ways to ensure that the robotic lander had a safe touchdown on the lunar surface, but it was scrapped after the success of Chandrayaan-3.
The planetarium, which attracts over 2,000 visitors every day, is also planning to invite experts to conduct university-level sessions on astronomy.
The last major revamp of the planetarium was in 2010 ahead of the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. A total of ₹11 crore was spent on renovating the facility and installing ‘Megastar’, a new Definiti optical star projector that could screen 2 million stars, including a detailed image of the Milky Way and nearby galaxies. Some of the newly introduced shows were ‘Chandra: A Stellar Life’, ‘Ultimate Universe’, ‘Dawn of Space Age’, and ‘Awesome Light’.
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