Tales for the starry-eyed

``MANKIND WILL not stay on the earth forever... the quest of light and space will timidly at first, penetrate beyond the bounds of the atmosphere and will then conquer circumsolar space for itself.''

That was the prophecy of a Russian scientist, which was recollected by the Russian Cultural Centre Director, Mr. Vladimir F. Zakharov at the inaugural of a 10-day exhibition to mark Cosmonautics Day at the Periyar Science and Technology Centre.

And exhibits on display appeared to reflect the scientist's words. The exhibition features photographs of the first great step in the history of mankind - Yuri Gagarin, who took off from the earth in a small space-ship on April 12, 1961.

Photographs of Yuri Gagarin Training Centre in Star City, which is about 40 Km from Moscow, show the facilities that have been designed for providing ``crew full-scale training.''

A beaming Rakesh Sharma chatting with a Russian after his first flight also finds place among the exhibits.

A photograph of Valentina Tereshkova, who piloted a flight between June 16 and 19, 1963, alone on a Vostok-6 space craft also finds a place in the array of photographs.

There are photographs of the MIR Scientific Research Station and the Luna vehicle - the automatic explorer of the moon, as the Russians prefer to call it.

The centre had brought in models of the PSLV and GSLV to be stationed at the entrance of the exhibition hall. The models in a 1:20 scale, attract the attention of children.

Mr. Vladimir F. Zakharov, inaugurating the exhibition said ``gifted students'' could aspire to opt for higher studies at some of the scientific and engineering institutions in Russia, availing scholarships offered by them. The Russian Cultural Centre could provide information.

Dr. K. Subramanian, Member Secretary, State Council for Science and Technology said the centre would establish an IT gallery shortly.

By S. Shanker

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