Mysore/Mysuru: Mysuru will soon be the site of a state-of-the-art Planetarium and Research Centre COSMOS (Cosmology Education and Research Training Centre), which is under construction at the foot of Chamundi Hill.

COSMOS, Mysuru, will have world class projection technology (Digistar 7) as well as facilities for collaboration with research organisations from across the world.

COSMOS is a result of an MoU between the University of Mysore (UoM) and Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru.

Excel Public School at Hootagalli Industrial Area, Mysuru, has recently been selected as an ISRO Space Tutor and is committed to educate the students of Mysuru in Satellite Technology and Space Science.

As part of this programme, the School collaborated with COSMOS, Mysuru, to conduct a tethered helium balloon experiment, titled “What’s Up There?” on Jan. 29.

This experiment demonstrated how a high-altitude balloon can be used to determine atmospheric conditions using sensors and radio transmission/reception.

The balloon instruments carried a payload from IIA and a payload developed by the K-12 Learning Events team of Excelsoft. The programme included talks by Dr. Niruj Mohan, Outreach Director of IIA and Dr. Margarita Safonova, DST Women Scientist, IIA.

Students from Excel Public School and other Schools and Colleges of Mysuru participated in the event.