Tag: Space

Space Aditya L1 captures first glimpse of solar flares The Indian Space Research Organisation said the High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) on board the Aditya L1 space craft payload has captured the first high energy Xray glimpse of solar flares. Aditya L1 is the first space based Indian mission to study the sun It is currently on its journey to the destination of sun-earth L1 point (L1).  

Space ISRO gears for abort mission The Indian Space Research Organisation is planning to commence unmanned flight tests for the Gaganyaan mission. It has started to make preparations for the Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission1 (TVD1). The abort mission is expected to be launched by the end of October from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. About TVD1 It is a single stage liquid rocket. The technical infrastructure for Gaganyaan was provided by KCP Ltd. About Ganganyaan Mission Objective - To demonstrate the capability to launch human beings (three crew members) to low earth orbit of 400 km and bring them back safely to earth by landing them in either the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. Four pilots are undergoing training at the Astronaut Training Facility in Bengaluru.

SPACE ISRO to launch Aditya-L1  Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced that Aditya­L1 will be launched on September 2.  About Aditya-L1 It is India’s first space based observatory to study the sun.  The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the sun­earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the earth. 7 Payloads:  The spacecraft carries seven payloads to observe the hotosphere, chromosphere and the outermost layers of the sun.  They are Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) Solar Low Energy X­ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) High Energy L1 Orbiting X­ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS) Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) Plasma Analyser Package For Aditya (PAPA) Advanced Triaxial High Resolution Digital Magnetometers. Advantages of L1 point A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the sun without any occultation/eclipses.  It will help in observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time. Other Solar Missions  Space Agency/Country Mission Date National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/US  Parker Solar Probe August 2018 NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) The Solar Orbiter February 2020 NASA and JAXA Transient Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE), along with NASA, in. 1998 NASA, ESA and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). December 1995 JAXA Hinotori (ASTRO-A) 1981 Yohkoh (SOLAR-A)  1991 Hinode (SOLAR-B) 2006 ESA Ulysses October 1990 China Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory October 9, 2022

Space Periyar University gets patent for lunar soil manufacturing A team of researchers from Periyar University along with (ISRO) and NIT, Tiruchi, has received patent for the lunar soil manufacturing process developed by them for Chandrayaan-2 mission. The team manufactured ‘Lunar’ simulant soil from ‘anorthosite’ rock collected from Sithampoondi and Kunnamalai villages in Namakkal. The lunar simulant soil was essential to conduct various tests as part of the mission. ISRO applied for patent rights in 2014 and after thorough processing, the patent was granted to the team on May 2020.  Besides economic benefits, the patent would help in further research in resource utilisation and lunar mission explorations. Background The team led by S.Anbalagan, Director of Centre for Geoinformatics and Planetary studies in Periyar University, helped ISRO identify and produce the ‘lunar’ simulant soil for its lander and rover tests for the Chandrayaan mission.  They have been conducting research on anorthosite soil even before the Chandrayaan mission. Mayilswamy Annadurai, then Director of ISRO came to know about this and he formed a task force in ISRO.

Space  Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) programme The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully carried out the landing experiment of the Reusable Launch Vehicle -Technology Demonstration (RLV-TD) programme at the Aeronautical Test Range in Challakere, Chitradurga. About RLV-TD: The RLV-TD is a winged space vehicle launched like a rocket and flies back down like a glider. It can fly at hypersonic speeds: speeds greater than 5 times the speed of sound (6174 km/hr). 600 heat-resistant tiles cover the RLV-TD on its underside, protecting it from the high temperatures encountered while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. It is controlled like an airplane using control surfaces called elevons and rudder. The launch stack is made up of the RLV-TD vehicle and the rocket booster called HS9. The booster is meant to lift the vehicle into the upper atmosphere and accelerate it to hypersonic test speeds. RLV – TD Mission programme The RLV-TD mission consists of 4 major steps before the development of the final Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV). Hypersonic Flight Experiment (HEX) – it was conducted in May 2016. Landing Experiment (LEX) – now done Return Flight Experiment (REX) Scramjet Propulsion Experiment (SPEX)

Space  ISRO puts 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit. ISRO launched LVM3-M2 carrying 36 OneWeb satellites from Sriharikota Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh. ISRO's commercial arm, New Space India Ltd (NSIL) has signed a contract with OneWeb to launch 72 satellites in two phases for a launch fee of over Rs 1,000 crore. The first set of 36 satellites was launched in the LVM3M2/One Web India1 mission on October 23, 2022. This is the sixth flight of LVM3. The rocket had five consecutive successful missions, including Chandrayaan 2. This launch is a significant milestone for India to move towards benefiting from remarkable capabilities of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) connectivity and the spread of space based Internet. This will aid in addressing the issue of low fixed broadband penetration and bridge the digital divide in the country’s most remote areas. 

SCIENCE Space NASA hands over NISAR satellite to ISRO The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has received the NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) satellite from the U.S. space agency. NISAR is a Low Earth Orbit observatory jointly developed by NASA and ISRO. NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days and provide spatially and temporally consistent data for understanding changes in Earth’s ecosystems, ice mass, vegetation biomass, sea level rise, groundwater and natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis, valconoes and landslides. NISAR carries L and S dual-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which operates with the Sweep SAR technique to achieve large swaths with high-resolution data. The SAR payloads mounted on Integrated Radar Instrument Structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus are together called an observatory. The final integration of the satellite will be carried out at the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru, and ISRO is looking to launch the satellite in 2-24 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

Sports and games Jeswin Aldrin came up with a massive world—leading 8.42 m long jump that broke M.Sreeshankar’s one-year-old National record in the second Indian open Jumps Championships at the JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sports, Ballari. Indian GM D. Gukesh has been honoured with player-of-the-year award by the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) for clinching the gold with nine points out of 11 in the 44th Chess Olympiad last year. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has been conferred with man-of-the-year award for his efforts in the successful hosting of the FIDE Chess Olympiad in August 2022. Space SpaceX launches U.S., Russia, UAE astronauts to space station  SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, including the first person from the Arab world going up for an extended months-long stay. The Falcon rocket bolted from Kennedy Space Center shortly after midnight, illuminating the night sky as it headed up the East Coast. 

Space NASA’s Artemis 1 Launch NASA’s Artemis 1 mission was launched from Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12.17 PM IST on November 16, 2022. Around eight minutes after launch, the core stage engines cut off and the core stage separated from the rest of the rocket. After this, the Orion spacecraft was propelled by the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). NASA also deployed the Orion spacecraft’s four solar arrays. After completing “translunar injection,” Orion separated itself from ICPS and is on its way to lunar orbit. Artemis II will follow in Artemis I’s footsteps.

Space  China successfully launches cargo spacecraft for its space station in orbit China successfully launched its cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-5 to deliver supplies for its space station Tiangon, the construction of which is expected to be completed in 2022. The Long March-7 Y6 rocket, carrying Tianzhou-5 was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern island province of Hainan has successfully entered its designated orbit. Note  Tiangong officially the Tiangong space station is a space station being constructed by China and operated by China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) in low Earth orbit between 340 and 450 km (210 and 280 mi) above the surface.  Launches of components  29 April 2021 - Tianhe 24 July 2022 - Wentian 31 October 2022 -Mengtian December 2023 - Xuntian