A file picture of polar satellite launch vehicle PSLV-C4, carrying meteorological satellite Metsat, blasting off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in September, 2002

March 22: There will be front-row space for trivia junkies from the Northeast when the scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) fire a rocket into the skies next time around at Sriharikota.

The one-way ticket to the next satellite launch is winning a space quiz at the Vivekananda Kendra here on April 9-10.

The contest, organised by Isro to popularise space science, is open to students of Classes IX, X and XI from schools in the entire region. The Northeastern Space Applications Centre is taking a lead role in organising the quiz.

Officials of the centre said two students from each state were eligible for participation in the competition.

?A normal quiz programme on science normally has only a handful of questions on space. This one will, however, be exclusively on space. The quizmaster is likely to be from Isro,? one of the officials said.

?The first prize is a ticket to Sriharikota to witness the launching of a rocket,? he said.

Though little is known in the Northeast about Isro, there are hundreds of beneficiaries from its tele-medicine projects in the region. The space organisation had been rendering service to the people through its tele-medicine centre at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.

The officials said the main objective of the quiz was to spread awareness about space science among cross-sections of society and test the level of knowledge about space programmes. They said an exhibition on space equipment would be part of the programme.

The national children?s science congress, held here last December, took a big step towards popularising space science among students and enhancing their knowledge on the subject.

The officials said Isro had asked the northeastern centre to prepare a blueprint for setting up satellite-based village resource centres in the region to provide various services to rural communities.

?It will be a single-window delivery service in education, health, agriculture and weather for a cluster of villages where indigenous skill can be developed by providing training and interaction through audio/video, telephone and Internet,? an official added.