It is time for Mumbai to witness its own version of moon. Nehru planetarium in Mumbai has launched this largest dome as a tribute to ISRO and its latest missions. This dome is said to the world’s largest in terms of depiction in the form of art. It has been launched on November 21, 2019 and it is now open for public to experience biggest moon on dome from close quarters. The Nehru planetarium has created a gallery view for the public and it is open all through the week. The visiting time will be between 11 AM and 9.30 PM and you can experience it for free – no visiting fee involved.
Conceptualized and executed with perfection
This largest lunar dome was first conceptualized by ‘Sideways’ consulting. After it was conceptualized, this consulting agency pitched this idea to Nehru Planetarium in Mumbai. Nehru planetarium in association with Asian paints and St+art India Foundation turned this concept into reality. According to St +art India foundation’s twitter message after the launch it is a collaborative effort made possible with the support of Nehru centre, Mumbai.
A Rajkot based artist named Sharad turned this concept of replicating southern hemisphere of moon into reality. This artist along with two assistants and a bunch of volunteers created this piece of art in the terrace of Nehru centre. When asked about the concept, the director of Nehru planetarium said that it was not the exact replica of moon. The artists have used their creative freedom tried to replicate based on HD images from NASA maps.
India’s biggest moon installation project was started in the month of August and was initially set to be launched in the month of Sep, 2019 as a tribute to the ISRO’s Vikram Lander mission. Due to various reasons including the prolonged rainy showers, the project could not be able to be launched as per plans. It took so long for the project to have completed; it was all because of the prolonged monsoon showers, according to the creative director of St +art India foundation.
Project has now been unveiled and stands as a tribute for all the achievements that have been made by Indian Space Research Organization – ISRO over the years. It is also believed to inspire the youth of the nation towards Science and Space research in the future.
Largest Replica of Moon
The concept was to create a replica of the southern hemisphere of the lunar region. The southern region in particular was chosen to denote that the new mission Vikram lander was also aimed at exploring the southern hemisphere of the moon. It now truly stands as a symbol of the ISRO’s launch – Chandrayan 2. This lunar dome at the terrace of the planetarium was erected consuming 200 litres of paint. The length of the dome is 86 metres with 25.6 metres in diameter claims to be the biggest dome at least in India. For the purpose of scaffolding alone they claim to have used around 2500 bamboo shoots and it almost took two months to get completed.