Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

SPACE SnT by ATRISHEKHAR - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
      - These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
      - A Satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/ eclipses.
      - The L1 point is home to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite (SOHO), an international collaboration project of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
  - - - NewSpace India Limited (NSIL)
        
        Announced in Budget 2019, its aim is to use research and development carried out by ISRO over the years for commercial purposes through Indian industry partners.
      - IN-SPACE
        
        It acts as a single-point interface between ISRO, and everyone who wants to participate in space-related activities or use India’s space resources.
        
        IN-SPACE was launched to provide an equal opportunity for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure.
        
        at least 135 applications have been received by space regulator IN-SPACe from 135 non-governmental entities (NGEs) in the space sector till now
      - STRENGTH OF INDIAN SPACE SECTOR
        
        Cost-effective: The operating costs of setting up base and launching space vehicles in India is comparatively much less compared to its counterparts like NASA. Nothing illustrates the economical nature of Indian space endeavours better than the words of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Indian mission to Mars costing less than the whole budget of the Hollywood movie Gravity.
        
        Exceptional success rate: ISRO is the 6th (sixth) largest space agency in the world and holds an exceptional success rate. India has made a name for itself by successful launch of about 342 (three hundred and forty-two) foreign satellites from over 34 (thirty-four) countries.
        
        Innovative equipment: ISRO holds the cutting edge equipments and is also in LAUNCED SSLV (small satellite launch vehicle) in partnership with private companies. This will provide a greater avenue for foreign players to form partnerships with the Indian space sector.
        
        Liberalised space sector: Over the years, ISRO has forged strong relationships with numerous industrial ventures that will be beneficial to foreign players who wish to set up base in India.
      - Chandrayaan-2 maps sodium content on Moon’s surface
        
        The x-ray spectrometer called CLASS (Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer) aboard the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter detected a large amount of sodium on the moon for the first time.
        
        Earlier, Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (C1XS) opened up the possibility of large amount of sodium on the Moon by detecting the element’s characteristic line in X-rays.
        
        CLASS spectrometer, due to its improved capability and sensitivity, was able to provide clean signature of the sodium line.
        
        The new research found that a part of the signal could be detected from a thin veneer of sodium atoms that is weakly bound to the lunar grains on the surface.
        
        Sodium is found in the Moon’s exosphere, where atoms rarely interact. The exosphere begins at the lunar surface and spans across several thousand kilometres before merging into the interplanetary space.
        
        If sodium atoms are part of the lunar minerals, they can easily be pushed out of the surface by the UV rays or solar winds.
        
        The diurnal variation of the alkali element on the surface explains its continuous supply and presence in the exosphere.
        
        Currently, sodium and potassium are the only elements that can be observed through telescopes in the lunar atmosphere (exosphere).
        
        The new findings by the Chandrayaan-2 provides scope to study the interactions between the lunar surface and exosphere. This could help in the development of similar models for Mercury and other airless celestial bodies in the solar system.
        
        The recent study is the first shot towards a global-scale measurement of sodium on the lunar surface using X-ray florescent spectra.
        
        NASA’s DART hits asteroid
        
        DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft hit the asteroid Dimorphos, which is orbiting around primary asteroid Didymos.
        
        The mission has succeeded in deflecting the trajectory of the pair of space rocks.
        
        The objective of this mission was to change the path of Dimorphos using the kinetic impact technique or kick technique.
        
        The kick technique, besides providing defence against fatal asteroids travelling towards the Earth, also provides a potential for space mining
        
        Rare earth elements are mined with a huge environmental impact. High penalty for polluting can make space mining a viable solution in the future. Kick technique can be used to move small asteroids into convenient positions for space mining
        
        Rare earth elements are critical for the adoption of renewable energy technologies like electric vehicle, solar panels, wind turbines and energy storage devices.
        
        The kinetic technique has the potential to prevent large asteroids from hitting the Earth by changing their trajectory.
        
        While the auto-rickshaw-sized DART spacecraft weighed just 600 kg, Dimorphos, with the size equivalent to football stadium, is approximately 5 billion kg in mass.
        
        The tiny DART spacecraft was able to crash at a very high speed of 23,760 km per hour.
        
        China discovers new type of mineral on Moon
        
        Changesite-(Y)
        
        The newly discovered crystal was named Changesite-(Y) after the Chinese moon goddess Chang’e.
        
        This small and transparent crystal was found among the volcanic debris of the near side of the moon.
        
        It is more than a billion years old and its width is almost comparable to human hair.
        
        It has a unique composition and is related to other minerals found only found on the lunar surface or in meteors.
        
        The crystal was found among the 1.8 km of lunar rocks brought back by Chang’e-5 mission in 2020.
        
        These samples are the first to the delivered to the Earth from Moon since 1976 and the first ever lunar samples collected by China.
        
        The Changesite-(Y) crystal is the sixth new mineral to be discovered on the Moon and the first identified by China. The previous 5 discoveries were made by either the United States or Russia.
        
        The lunar samples from Chang’e-5 also had helium-3, a version of helium that is extremely rare on Earth but highly abundant on the Moon.
        
        It is seen as a potential source of fuel for nuclear fusion, as it is known to emit lesser radiation and nuclear wastes than other elements.
        
        It is found in abundant quantities as it was deposited directly onto the lunar soil for billions of years by solar wind.
        
        The availability of Helium-3 on Earth is few and far between. Hence, its discovery has triggered a potential lunar resource race.
        
        Several space-faring nations and private companies are looking to mine the moon for Helium-3, including the US and China.
        
        InSight lander detects space rocks hitting Mars
        
        For the first time, scientists were able to calculate the locations of craters left by meteoroids on the Martian surface based on seismic and acoustic waves.
        
        The researchers confirmed the calculations made by InSight Lander using the NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
        
        The recent seismic measurements provide a new tool for the better investigation of the Mars and other planets where seismometer can be landed.
        
        One of the space rocks detected by the InSight Lander hit the Martian surface in 2020 and the rest landed in 2021. They have left craters of up to 7.2 meters wide.
        
        They landed between 85 km and 290 km from the InSight’s location.
        
        Mars is close to the solar system’s asteroid belt, which makes it highly vulnerable to impacts by space rocks.
        
        Its atmosphere is just 1 percent as thick as Earth’s. Hence, meteoroids pass through it without disintegrating unlike when they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.
        
        However, this is the first time that InSight captured the sound of the space rock hitting the Red Planet.
        
        According to researchers, the past impacts may have been undetected because of the noise from wind or by seasonal changes in the atmosphere.
        
        It is possible that more such seismic and acoustic waves may be hidden within the lander’s nearly four years of data.
        
        The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission is a robotic lander that aims to study the deep interior of the Red Planet.
    - - The idea of dark energy originated from the fact
        that while dark matter was trying to hold the universe together, the universe has been ever
        expanding since big bang.
      - Dark Energy has been considered as reason
        behind this force causing expansion of universe.It has been called dark as like Dark matter it
        interacts weakly with regular matter .
      - Dark Energy is said to constitute 70% of total
        energy of universe.
- - - - L Band
        
        ISRO plans to replace at least five satellites with the improved L-Band, which would enable it to offer better global positioning services to the public as several satellites of the constellation have outlived their lives.
        
        Five more satellites will be launched periodically to replace the defunct satellites.
        
        The new satellites will have L-1, L-5 and S Band.
        
        L1, L2 and L5 are GPS frequencies, where L1 frequency is used to track GPS satellite location, L2 frequency is used to track the health of the GPS satellites and the L5 frequency is used to improve accuracy for civilian use such as aircraft precision.
      - S band
        
        S band operate on a wavelength of 8-15 cm and a frequency of 2-4 GHz. Because of the wavelength and frequency, S band radars are not easily attenuated. This makes them useful for near and far range weather observation.
  - - - NASA requires the L-band radar for its global science operations for at least three years.
    - - S band radars operate on a wavelength of 8-15 cm and a frequency of 2-4 GHz. Because of the wavelength and frequency, they are not easily attenuated. This makes them useful for near and far range weather observation.
        
        ISRO will utilise the S-band radar for a minimum of five years.
  - - - This includes defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments of debris from collisions or other events.
    - - Threat for Operational Satellites
        
        floating space debris
        
        This overpopulation of space with objects and debris is referred to as Kessler Syndrome.
        
        It says if there is too much space junk in orbit, it could result in a chain reaction where more and more objects will collide and create new space junk in the process, to the point where Earth's orbit becomes unusable – a Domino Effect.
      - Reduction of Orbital Slots
      - Space Situational Awareness
        
        At present, India uses a Multi Object Tracking Radar at Sriharikota range (Andhra Pradesh), but it has a limited range.
        
        Further, for SSA, India depends on data from NORAD and others available in the public domain.
        
        However, these platforms don’t provide accurate (or comprehensive) information.
        
        NORAD, or the North American Aerospace Defence Command, is an initiative of the U.S. and Canada that shares selective debris data with many countries.
        
        Implementing Agency: ISRO's efforts towards space situational awareness (SSA) is coordinated by the SSA Control Centre in Bengaluru and managed by the Directorate of Space Situational Awareness and Management at the ISRO headquarters.
    - - INDIAN INITIATIVE
        
        IS 4 OM
        
        ISRO set up the System for Safe and Sustainable Operations Management (IS 4 OM) to continually monitor objects posing collision threats, predict the evolution of space debris, and mitigate the risk posed by space debris.
        
        Centre for Space Debris Research
        
        ISRO has also set up a Centre for Space Debris Research to monitor and mitigate the threat of space debris.
        
        NETRA Project
        
        a space debris tracking radar with a range of 1,500 km and an optical telescope will be inducted as part of establishing an effective surveillance and tracking network under the Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) project
        
        NETRA can spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.
        
        The NETRA effort would make India a part of international efforts towards tracking, warning about and mitigating space debris.
        
        More importantly, the SSA also has a military quotient to it and adds a new ring to the country’s overall security, against attacks from air, space or sea.
        
        This is a vital requirement for protecting our space assets and a force multiplier.
        
        ISRO tests Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator
        
        that can aid in cost-effective recovery of spent rocket stages and land payloads safely on other planets.
        
        The IAD has huge potential in variety of space applications like recovery of spent stages of rocket, for landing payloads on to Mars or Venus and in making space habitat for human space flight missions.
        
        The Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator has been designed and developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC).
        
        The IAD technology has been tested from the sounding rocket Rohini-300 (RH300 Mk II). Rohini sounding rockets are regularly used by scientists from India and abroad for flight demonstrations.
      - GLOAL IITIATIVE
        
        Clearspace-1 (of European Space Agency),
        
        which is scheduled to launch in 2025, will be the first space mission to eliminate debris from orbit
        
        The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), an international governmental forum, was established in 1993 to coordinate efforts between spacefaring nations to address the issue of space debris.
        
        The United Nations has established the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) to develop guidelines for the long-term sustainability of outer space activities, including the mitigation of space debris.
        
        The European Space Agency (ESA) has launched the Clean Space initiative, aimed at reducing the amount of space debris and promoting sustainable space activities.
        
        NEO 1 by CHINA robot prototype for clearing space debris
    - - Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) James Webb Space Telescope has discovered its first new exoplanet named- LHS 475 b
        
        It is roughly the same size as Earth, its diameter is 99% the same as Earth.
        
        It is a terrestrial, rocky planet about 41 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Octans.
        
        It differs from Earth in that it completes an orbit in just two days and is hundreds of degrees hotter than Earth.
        
        It is also closer to its star than any planet in our solar system is to the sun, although its star is less than half the temperature of the sun.
        
        It orbits very close to a red dwarf star and completes a full orbit in just two days.
        
        So far, most of the discovered exoplanets are similar to Jupiter as Earth-sized planets are much smaller in size and harder to discover with older telescopes
      - BASICS
        
        Exoplanets are planets that orbit other stars and are beyond our solar system. The first confirmation of detection of exoplanets occurred in 1992.
        
        According to NASA, to date, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered.
        
        Scientists believe that there are more planets than stars as each star have at least one planet orbiting it.
        
        Exoplanets come in a host of different sizes. They can be gas giants bigger than Jupiter or as small and rocky as Earth. They are also known to have different kinds of temperatures — boiling hot to freezing cold.
        
        Another important element of the study is finding out the distance between an exoplanet and its host star.
        
        This helps scientists determine if a discovered world is habitable or not. If an exoplanet is too close to the star, it might be too hot to sustain liquid water. If it’s too far, it might only have frozen water.
        
        When a planet is at a distance that enables it to have liquid water, it is said to be in the “Goldilocks zone” or the habitable zone.
        
        Red Dwarf Stars
        
        Red dwarf stars are small, low-mass, dim, and cool stars, they are the most common and smallest in the universe.
        
        As they don’t radiate much light, it’s very tough to detect them with the naked eye from Earth.
        
        However, as red dwarfs are dimmer than other stars, it is easier to find exoplanets that surround them. Therefore, red dwarfs are a popular target for planet hunting.
        
        The habitable zone of red dwarf stars is closer to the star than stars like our sun, making it easier to observe potentially habitable planets.
      - TYPES
        
        GAS GIANT
        
        A gas giant is a large planet mostly composed of helium and/or hydrogen. These planets, like Jupiter and Saturn in our solar system, don’t have hard surfaces and instead have swirling gases above a solid core. Gas giant exoplanets can be much larger than Jupiter, and much closer to their stars than anything found in our solar system.
        
        SUPER EARTH
        
        Super-Earths – a class of planets unlike any in our solar system – are more massive than Earth yet lighter than ice giants like Neptune and Uranus, and can be made of gas, rock or a combination of both. They are between twice the size of Earth and up to 10 times its mass.
        
        NEPTUNE LIKE
        
        Neptunian exoplanets are similar in size to Neptune or Uranus in our solar system. Neptunian planets typically have hydrogen and helium-dominated atmospheres with cores of rock and heavier metals.
        
        TERESSTRIAL
        
        In our solar system, Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus are terrestrial, or rocky, planets. For planets outside our solar system, those between half of Earth’s size to twice its radius are considered terrestrial and others may be even smaller. Exoplanets twice the size of Earth and larger may be rocky as well, but those are considered super-Earths.
      - Shukrayaan I
        
        FEATURES
        
        Shukrayaan I will be an Orbiter Mission. Its scientific payloads currently include a high-resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and a ground-penetrating radar.
        
        SAR would examine Venus’ surface, despite the clouds around the planet, which lowers visibility.
        
        It refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images. Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.
        
        The mission is expected to study Venus’s geological and volcanic activity, emissions on the ground, wind speed, cloud cover, and other planetary characteristics from an elliptical orbit.
        
        Shukrayaan-I will be launched on either GSLV Mk II or GSLV Mk III, the latter allows more instruments or fuel to be carried, according to ISRO
        
        Previous Missions Sent on Venus
        
        US
        
        Mariner series 1962-1974,
        
        Pioneer Venus 1 and Pioneer Venus 2 in 1978,
        
        Magellan in 1989.
        
        Earlier, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced two new robotic missions (DaVinci Plus and Veritas) to Venus.
        
        NASA’s DAVINCI Mission
        
        The mission will fly by Venus and explore its harsh atmosphere in 2029.
        
        It will be the first mission to study Venus by means of both flybys and descent.
        
        Spacecraft is likely to explore layered Venusian atmosphere.
        
        It will reach Venusian surface by June 2031.
        
        The mission would capture data about Venus, that scientists are trying to measure since early 1980s.
        
        DAVINCI spacecraft will serve as a flying chemistry lab.
        
        This lab will paint a picture of layered Venus’s atmosphere as well as the picture of how it interacts with surface in Alpha Regio mountains.
        
        SIGNIFICANCE
        
        These measurements by DAVINCI will allow researchers in evaluating historical aspects of atmosphere and detect special rock types at surface of the planet, like granites.
        
        It will also look for tell-tale landscape features, thus will talk about erosion or other formational processes.
        
        It will also investigate about the possibility of an ocean on Venus’s surface, by measuring gases and components of water in its atmosphere.
        
        Features called tesserae on Venus, might be similar to continents on Earth. This means that, Venus may have plate tectonics.
        
        Russia
        
        Venera series of space crafts 1967-1983,
        
        Vegas 1 and 2 in 1985.
        
        Japan
        
        Akatsuki in 2015.
        
        Europe
        
        Venus Express in 2005.
        
        Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Venus mission, Shukrayaan I may be postponed to 2031. ISRO’s Venus mission was expected to be launched in December 2024.
        
        ISRO had originally planned to launch Shukrayaan I in mid-2023 but the pandemic pushed the date to December 2024.
        
        Other ISRO missions, including Aditya L1 and Chandrayaan III, have also been affected by manufacturing delays and commercial launch commitments.
        
        Optimal launch windows from Earth to Venus occur once around every 19 months. This is why ISRO has ‘backup’ launch dates in 2026 and 2028 should it miss the 2024 opportunity.
        
        But even more optimal windows, which further reduce the amount of fuel required at liftoff, come around every eight years.
        
        Right now the 2031 window is considered very good by the experts.
        
        The mission is also “waiting for formal approval and money”, which are required before spacecraft assembly and testing.
        
        Both the U.S. and the European space agencies have Venus missions planned for 2031 — VERITAS and EnVision, respectively — while China may launch around 2026 or 2027.
        
        Venus
        
        It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. It is the second planet from the Sun and sixth in the solar system in size and mass.
        
        It is the second brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon.
        
        Unlike the other planets in our solar system, Venus and Uranus spin clockwise on their axis.
        
        It is the hottest planet in the solar system because of the high concentration of carbon dioxide which works to produce an intense greenhouse effect.
        
        A day on Venus is longer than a year. It takes Venus longer to rotate once on its axis than to complete one orbit of the Sun.
        
        That’s 243 Earth days to rotate once - the longest rotation of any planet in the Solar System - and only 224.7 Earth days to complete one orbit of the Sun.
        
        Venus has been called Earth’s twin because of the similarities in their masses, sizes, and densities and their similar relative locations in the solar system.
        
        No planet approaches closer to Earth than Venus; at its nearest it is the closest large body to Earth other than the Moon.
        
        Venus has 90 times the atmospheric pressure of Earth.
        
        Surface temperatures of the planet can reach to 462 degrees Celsius.
        
        Uncontrolled Re-Entries of Satellites
        
        Outer Space Institute (OSI) has called for both national and multilateral efforts to restrict uncontrolled re-entries of Satellites.
        
        OSI is a network of world-leading space experts united by their commitment to highly innovative, transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges facing the continued use and exploration of space.
        
        Stages of a Rocket Launch
        
        Primary Stage:
        
        The primary stage of a rocket is the first rocket engine to engage, providing the initial thrust to send the rocket skyward.
        
        This engine will continue to operate until its fuel is exhausted, at which time it separates from the rocket and falls to the ground.
        
        Secondary Stage
        
        After the primary stage has fallen away, the next rocket engine engages to continue the rocket on its trajectory.
        
        The second stage has considerably less work to do, since the rocket is already traveling at high speed and the rocket's weight has significantly decreased due to the separation of the first stage.
        
        If the rocket has additional stages, the process will repeat until the rocket is in space
        
        Payload:
        
        Once the payload, whether it be a satellite or a spacecraft, is in orbit, the rocket’s final stage falls away, and the craft will be maneuvered using smaller rockets whose purpose is to guide the spacecraft. Unlike the main rocket engines, these maneuvering rockets can be used multiple times.
        
        In an uncontrolled re-entry, the rocket stage simply falls. Its path down is determined by its shape, angle of descent, air currents and other characteristics.
        
        It will also disintegrate as it falls. As the smaller pieces fan out, the potential radius of impact will increase on the ground.
        
        Some pieces burn up entirely while others don’t. But because of the speed at which they’re travelling, debris can be deadly.
        
        As per a 2021 report of the International Space Safety Foundation, an impact anywhere on an airliner with debris of mass above 300 grams would produce a catastrophic failure, meaning all people on board would be killed.
        
        Most rocket parts have landed in oceans principally because earth’s surface has more water than land. But many have dropped on land as well.
        
        India’s 300-kg RISAT-2 satellite re-entered earth’s atmosphere in October after 13 years in low-earth orbit. The ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) tracked it with its system for safe and sustainable space operations management from a month beforehand. It plotted its predicted paths using models in-house.
        
        SOME LAWS
        
        The U.S. Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices (ODMSP) require all launches to keep the chance of a casualty from a re-entering body to be below 0.01%.
        
        There is no international binding agreement to ensure rocket stages always perform controlled re-entries nor on the technologies with which to do so.
        
        The Liability Convention 1972 requires countries to pay for damages, not prevent them.
        
        These technologies include wing-like attachments, de-orbiting brakes, and extra fuel on the re-entering body, and design changes that minimize debris formation.
        
        Prarambh Mission
        
        Vikram S
        
        country’s first privately developed rocket, Vikram-S was successfully launched in a sub-orbital mission from the Sriharikota spaceport marking a new era in India’s space programme.
        
        The rocket has been developed by Indian space technology startup Skyroot Aerospace. .
        
        Skyroot has been working on three different Vikram rocket versions
        
        3 more items...
        
        It is named after Vikram Sarabhai, the founder of India’s space programme
        
        TECHNOLOGY
        
        It is a single-stage sub-orbital launch vehicle that would carry three customer payloads.
        
        Sub-orbital flights are those vehicles that are travelling slower than the orbital velocity – meaning it is fast enough to reach outer space but not fast enough to stay in an orbit around the Earth.
        
        Sub-orbital flights are those vehicles that are travelling slower than the orbital velocity – meaning it is fast enough to reach outer space but not fast enough to stay in an orbit around the Earth.
        
        Vikram Sarabhai
        
        Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, (born August 12, 1919, Ahmadabad, India—died December 30, 1971, Kovalam), was an Indian physicist and industrialist who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India.
        
        Remembered as the founding father of the Indian space programme, Sarabhai set up the Physical Research laboratory in his hometown in Ahmedabad in 1947 which was a precursor to the ISRO.
        
        After the death of physicist Homi Bhabha in 1966, Sarabhai was appointed the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.
        
        Sarabhai was awarded two of India’s highest honours, the Padma Bhushan (1966) and the Padma Vibhushan (awarded posthumously in 1972).
        
        The Prarambh mission is aimed at carrying three payloads into space, including a 2.5-kilogram payload that has been developed by students from several countries.
        
        The Prarambh mission and the Vikram-S rocket were developed by the Hyderabad-based startup with extensive support from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).
        
        NavIC
        
        NavIC or the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is designed with a constellation of 7 satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24×7.
        
        There are a total of eight satellites however only seven remain active.
        
        Three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
        
        The constellations' first satellite (IRNSS-1A) was launched on 1st July 2013 and the eighth satellite IRNSS-1I was launched in April 2018.
        
        With the seventh launch of the constellation's satellite (IRNSS-1G), IRNSS was renamed NavIC by India’s Prime Minister in 2016.
        
        It was recognised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a part of the World-Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS) for operation in the Indian Ocean Region in 2020.
        
        Navigation Systems operational in the world
        
        Four global systems
        
        4 more items...
        
        Two regional systems
        
        2 more items...
        
        Uses
        
        Terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation;
        
        Disaster management;
        
        Vehicle tracking and fleet management (especially for mining and transportation sector);
        
        Integration with mobile phones;
        
        Precise timing (as for ATMs and power grids);
        
        Mapping and geodetic data capture.
        
        In April 2019, the government made NavIC-based vehicle trackers mandatory for all commercial vehicles in the country in accordance with the Nirbhaya case verdict.
        
        Also, Qualcomm Technologies has unveiled mobile chipsets supporting NavIC
        
        Further with extensive coverage, one of the stated future uses of the project includes sharing of the project with the SAARC nations. This will help in integrating the regional navigation system further and a diplomatic goodwill gesture from India towards countries of the region.
        
        James Webb Telescope
        
        9 more items...
        
        Pillars of Creation
        
        5 more items...
        
        The goals for the Webb can be grouped into four themes
        
        4 more items...
        
        Mangalyaan Mission Over
        
        6 more items...
        
        James Webb Space Telescope’s First Images
        
        5 more items...
        
        Difference between Hubble & James Webb Telescope
        
        3 more items...
        
        Recently, the James Webb Telescope won the space Space Foundation Award.
        
        James Webb Telescope will help in discovery of water on distant planet. This telescope will help the researchers in measuring the chemical makeup of atmospheres of planets across other stars. Researchers hope that, one or more of the planets will show chemical signature of life.
        
        James Webb telescope captures ‘Super-Jupiter’
        
        7 more items...
        
        SITUATION
        
        The Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in 1957.
        
        There are more than 6,000 satellites in orbit, most of them in low-earth (100-2,000 km) and geostationary (35,786 km) orbits, placed there in more than 5,000 launches.
        
        The number of rocket launches have been surging with the advent of reusable rocket stages.
      - NASA spots Earth-sized, rocky Planet
        
        NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission has discovered a second Earth-sized, rocky planet within the habitable zone of its star – the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet’s surface. The planet, named TOI 700 e, is one of only a few systems with multiple, small, habitable-zone planets that we know of. The discovery was made by a team led by Emily Gilbert, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
- - - - ISRO is centrally funded and its annual budget is about Rs. 15,000 crore, and most of this is used in building rockets and satellites.
      - The size of the space economy in India is small. To increase the scale of the sector, it is imperative for private players to enter the market.
      - ISRO is planning to share knowledge and technology, such as manufacturing rockets and satellites, to all the private players.
      - The United States, Europe, Russia — all have space industries with big players like Boeing, SpaceX, AirBus, Virgin Galactic, etc.
    - - Soon after opening the Indian space sector to private actors, the next step has been to seek foreign direct investment. ISRO officials have called for introduction of a new FDI policy to engage with foreign firms and make the Indian space sector accessible to both domestic and foreign players.
    - - The space-launch segment would grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 13%, spurred by growing private participation, latest technology adoption and low cost of launch services.
      - The satellite services and application segment will form the largest share of the space economy accounting for 36% of the Space ecosystem by 2025.
      - The country’s satellite-manufacturing opportunity will reach USD 3.2 billion by the year 2025. In 2020 it was USD 2.1 billion.
      - Satellite manufacturing would be the second fastest-growing segment in the Indian space economy.
      - ISpA
        
        It was launched in 2021, and is the premier industry association of space and satellite companies. It is also part of the Government's approach to space reforms based on 4 pillars.
        
        Allowing the private sector freedom of innovation.
        
        Government playing the enabler's role.
        
        Preparing youngsters for the future.
        
        Treating the space sector as a resource for the progress of the common man.
        
        ISpA aspires to be the collective voice of the Indian Space industry. ISpA will be represented by leading domestic and global corporations that have advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies.
    - - It was launched in 2023
        
        It is powered by a 5G Modem RF system
        
        It can support 5G non-terrestrial networks. NTN is used in flying objects
        
        The two-way messaging system is supported by the Iridium satellite constellation. The Iridium constellation was launched by the Iridium communication-based in the US. The main purpose of the satellites is to provide L-band data, mostly voice data. And is being widely used in satellite phones.
      - Qualcomm launched the first satellite-based two-way messaging. It is called Snapdragon Satellite. This means this you can use SMS just like WhatsApp. In two-way messaging like Whatsapp, both participants can send or receive messages simultaneously. But in one-way messaging apps offering SMS services, only one operation is possible.
      - NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft
        
        DRAGONFLY
        
        Dragonfly rotorcraft will be launched by the American space agency in 2027 to study Titan – the largest moon of Saturn.
        
        Dragonfly rotorcraft is scheduled to be launched in 2027 and reach the Selk Crater region on Titan in the year 2034.
        
        The spacecraft, weighing less than 1,000 pounds, will look similar to a military transport helicopter.
        
        It will operate like a drone to understand the composition of Titan and conduct research to understand the origin of life on Earth.
        
        This would be the first aircraft on the Saturn’s moon and the first-ever fully controlled atmospheric flight on any moon.
        
        It will be the first flying machine targeting a celestial body in the outer solar system.
        
        Titan is the target of NASA’s Dragonfly rotorcraft since it is an ideal destination to research prebiological chemistry, astrobiology and the potential habitability of an extra-terrestrial world.
        
        Dragonfly is set to land on an equatorial, dry region of the Saturn’s moon, which has frigid and thick atmosphere having hydrocarbon.
        
        While liquid methane rain frequently occurs in Titan, it is more like a desert seen on the Earth, with the presence of dunes, small mountains and an impact crater.
        
        CASSINI
        
        Cassini Spacecraft ended its mission on September 15, 2017. Cassini was orbiting Saturn for 13 years. It was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first space probe to enter the orbit of Saturn.
        
        Found evidence of liquid water on Enceladus. It is one of the moons of Saturn.
        
        Discovered giant methane lake on titan.
        
        Found a huge ring, located 8 Million miles away from Saturn.
        
        It took Cassini 7 years to reach Saturn. It was launched in the year 1997. The distance travelled by Cassini was 2 billion miles. Cassini arrived at Saturn in July 2004.
        
        Cassini-Huygens is a space mission undertaken in collaboration with 3 different space agencies – NASA (USA), European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
        
        OneWeb-NewSpace India Partnership
        
        In April 2022, the London-based satellite communications satellite company OneWeb entered into a partnership with the NewSpace India Limited – the commercial arm of ISRO.
        
        As part of this deal, the 14th launch of the company’s LEO satellites will take place aboard GSLV-Mk III – the Indian space agency’s heaviest rocket.
        
        The satellites will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota.
        
        The OneWeb satellite constellation is a proposed network of Gen 1 low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites that will provide high data throughput, low latency and global internet coverage
        
        The satellites will remain close to the Earth’s surface at an altitude of less than 1,000 km. the first 6 of these satellites were launched in 2019 off the coast of French Guiana aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.
        
        OneWeb is expected to complete setting up the global broadband internet service by the end of 2023
        
        HAL’s Integrated Cryogenic Engine Manufacturing Facility
        
        An MoU that was signed between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 2013 for the establishment of a facility for the manufacturing of Cryogenic Engine modules at HAL, Aerospace Division.
        
        It hosts over 70 high-tech equipment and testing facility for manufacturing cryogenic (CE20) and semi-cryogenic (SE2000) engines for Indian rockets.
        
        Semi-cryogenic engine uses refined kerosene instead of liquid hydrogen, which is used by cryogenic engines. Refined kerosene is lighter than liquid fuel and can be stored in normal temperature.
        
        The ICMF will cater to the entire rocket engineering manufacturing requirements of ISRO under one roof.
        
        It will boost self-reliance in manufacturing of High-thrust rocket engines.
        
        The indigenous development of these engines is critical for the development of rockets used for launching heavy satellites.
        
        Cryogenic Engine Modules are expected to be released by March next year.
        
        Currently, the HAL Aerospace Division manufactures liquid propellant tanks and launch vehicle structures of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) MK-II, GSLV Mk-III and stage integration for GSLV Mk-II.
        
        Cryogenic engine makes use of cryogenics, which is an outcome of the production of and behaviour of materials at an extremely low temperature
        
        It is also called liquid-propellant rocket engines since it makes use of gases liquefied at a very low temperature.
        
        The cryogenic engine stage is the final stage of space launch vehicles. It makes use of cryogenics to store its fuel and oxidizer as liquids. The fuels are burned using oxidizer due to the lack of oxygen in space.
        
        India was able to indigenously develop this technology only in 2014. It successfully tested the cryogenic engine in 2003. In the 1990s, the US, Japan, Europe and China have stopped Soviet Union from sharing this technology with India.
        
        NASA – Eyes on the Solar System Tool
        
        This latest edition of “Eyes on the Solar System” lets you scroll through rich interactive journeys. For example, you can enjoy Voyager’s grand tour of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
        
        It took more than two years for the Visualization Technology Application and Development team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech to develop the system.
        
        This update offers better controls, better navigation, and tons of new opportunities to learn about our own Earth, the Solar System, asteroids, and more.
        
        This unique 3D instrument allows real-time 3D data visualization of the past, present and future of the Solar System.
        
        The instrument allows multiple visualizations from all satellites on Earth in real time for air temperature, carbon-dioxide, sea wall, soil moisture, ozone, and more.
        
        This amazing tool allows you to explore exoplanets in 3D, the search can be filtered by planet type which includes ‘Gas Giants, Terrestrial and even ‘Super Earth’ type planets.
        
        This instrument highlights stars and allows the detection of exoplanets around them. One can see the “habitable zone” around the star and if an exoplanet is in that zone
  - - - A nova is an astronomical event in which a strong explosion occurs temporarily on the stellar (Pertaining to Stars) surface, increasing the brightness by hundreds to millions of times, then slowly darkening over weeks or months.
      - It occurs in a binary system consisting of a white dwarf and a main sequence star.
        
        White dwarfs are stars that have burned up all of the hydrogen they once used as nuclear fuel.
        
        Such stars have very high density. A typical white dwarf is half the size of our Sun and has a surface gravity 1,00,000 times that of Earth.
      - A binary star system occurs when two stars both orbit around a common center of mass.
      - The brighter star is officially classified as the primary star, while the dimmer of the two is the secondary.
    - - Cosmic dust consists of tiny particles of solid material floating around in the space between the stars.
      - Cosmic dust or extra-terrestrial dust formation in the hostile environment of novae ejection has been an open question for many years. Hundreds of kilograms of such dust fall on the Earth every day.
      - Scientists from SN Bose Centre for Basic Science (SNBCBS) observed the imploding novae called Nova V1280 Scorpii and found that a thick dust formed around it after a month and lasted for about 250 days.
    - - Scientists constructed simple models to estimate parameters of dust like hydrogen density, temperature, luminosity and elemental abundances during pre- and post-dust phase.
      - High abundance of certain elements like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen was found along with a mixture of small amorphous carbon dust grains and large astrophysical silicate dust grains.
      - Dust formation in novae ejecta is not a common phenomenon.
      - It has been observed only in a few novae within 30 to 100 days after an outburst, as compared to interstellar dust, which typically takes a few thousand years to form and hence provided opportunity to study the dust formation process in novae.
      - High abundance of isotopes of certain elements like carbon, nitrogen and oxygen was found in the predust phase.
      - A mixture of small amorphous carbon dust grains and large astrophysical silicate dust grains present in the ejecta was found in the post dust phase.
      - Some complex organic compounds like amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic–aliphatic structure was found which play an important role in formation of molecular clouds in stars and planets.
      - CONCERN
        
        Such Space-dust collisions may have propelled organisms over enormous distances between planets to start life on a planet.
        
        Their study of novae dust could help in understanding the nature and characteristics of the dust and associated processes.
        
        The team has suggested that as the expanding dust shell of V1280 Scorpii Nova continues to expand these dust grains will eventually mix with interstellar matter. But that will take thousands of years - a small time in the cosmic time scale.
    - - Giant Gas Cloud
        
        A star originates from a large cloud of gas. The temperature in the cloud is low enough for the synthesis of molecules. The Orion cloud complex in the Orion system is an example of a star in this stage of life.
      - Protostar
        
        When the gas particles in the molecular cloud run into each other, heat energy is produced. This results in the formation of a warm clump of molecules referred to as the Protostar. The creation of Protostars can be seen through infrared vision as the Protostars are warmer than other materials in the molecular cloud. Several Protostars can be formed in one cloud, depending on the size of the molecular cloud.
      - T-Tauri Phase
        
        A T-Tauri star begins when materials stop falling into the Protostar and release tremendous amounts of energy. The mean temperature of the Tauri star isn’t enough to support nuclear fusion at its core. The T-Tauri star lasts for about 100 million years, following which it enters the most extended phase of development – the Main sequence phase.
      - Main Sequence
        
        The main sequence phase is the stage in development where the core temperature reaches the point for the fusion to commence. In this process, the protons of hydrogen are converted into atoms of helium. This reaction is exothermic; it gives off more heat than it requires and so the core of a main-sequence star releases a tremendous amount of energy.
      - Red Giant
        
        A star converts hydrogen atoms into helium over its course of life at its core. Eventually, the hydrogen fuel runs out, and the internal reaction stops. Without the reactions occurring at the core, a star contracts inward through gravity causing it to expand. As it expands, the star first becomes a subgiant star and then a red giant. Red giants have cooler surfaces than the main-sequence star, and because of this, they appear red than yellow.
      - The Fusion of Heavier Elements
        
        Helium molecules fuse at the core, as the star expands. The energy of this reaction prevents the core from collapsing. The core shrinks and begins fusing carbon, once the helium fusion ends. This process repeats until iron appears at the core. The iron fusion reaction absorbs energy, which causes the core to collapse. This implosion transforms massive stars into a supernova while smaller stars like the sun contract into white dwarfs.
      - Supernovae and Planetary Nebulae
        
        Most of the star material is blasted away into space, but the core implodes into a neutron star or a singularity known as the black hole. Less massive stars don’t explode, their cores contract instead into a tiny, hot star known as the white dwarf while the outer material drifts away. Stars tinier than the sun, don’t have enough mass to burn with anything but a red glow during their main sequence. These red dwarves are difficult to spot. But, these may be the most common stars that can burn for trillions of years.
    - - The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the first flight of its new satellite launcher, Small Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh carrying two satellites - Earth Observation Satellite-2 (EOS-2) and AzadiSAT.
        
        Satellites carried by the vehicle, however, failed to reach the desired orbit due to an error in the terminal stage.
        
        The SSLV was composed of three stages with velocity trimming modules powered by solid fuels and these three performed their function as planned.
        
        The problem appeared to be the SSLV’s terminal stage, called the velocity trimming module (VTM).
        
        According to the launch profile, the VTM was supposed to have burned for 20 seconds.
        
        However, it burnt for only 0.1 seconds, denying the rocket of the requisite altitude boost.
        
        According to ISRO, the malfunctioning of a sensor resulted in placing the satellites in an elliptical orbit, rather than a circular orbit.
      - OBJECTIVE
        
        The purpose of this mission was to place the two satellites in circular low-earth orbits at a height of about 350 km above the Equator.
        
        EOS-2: An optical remote sensing satellite designed and developed by ISRO.
        
        AzadiSAT: Array of 75 tiny payloads integrated by students, to measure the ionising radiation, integrated by the student team of Space Kidz India.
        
        It is ISRO's attempt at popularising Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) among girl students at the school level as it pushes for further exploration of the cosmos.
      - Circular and Elliptical Orbits
        
        An orbit is a regular, repeating path that one object in space takes around another one.
        
        Elliptical:
        
        Most planets in our solar system have elliptical orbits rather than circular orbits due to the gravitational interactions of other planets and stars.
        
        When an object moves around another object in an oval-shaped path.
        
        Circular:
        
        Artificial satellites that orbit the Earth are mostly placed in circular orbits.
        
        Circular path is favourable for artificial satellites because it is easier to image the Earth if the satellite is at a fixed distance from it.
        
        If the distance keeps changing as in an elliptical orbit, keeping the cameras focussed can become complicated.
        
        A circular orbit is an orbit with a fixed distance around the barycenter, in the shape of a circle.
      - SSLV Different From PSLV
        
        Cost-effective and Payload Capacity: SSLV has been designed to launch a 500-kilogram payload into a 500-kilometre planar orbit plus it is less expensive than PSLV.
        
        As the PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) can carry huge loads, small projects don't have a high cost-benefit ratio.
        
        Solid Propellant: The SSLV uses solid propellants and this is more economical and easier to handle than the liquid propellant stages of the PSLV.
        
        Faster Launch on Demand Service: PSLV's long turnaround time (over 60 days) makes scaling up launch on demand launches difficult.
        
        The SSLV has the flexibility to launch multiple satellites. Ithas a low turnaround time (72 hours) and can be assembled within a fortnight, allowing the space agency to provide launch on demand service in the fast growing low earth orbit launch sector.
      - What is PSLV?
        
        PSLV is the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. It is a launcher that is used to carry spacecraft into space. Some important salient features of PSLV are mentioned below:
        
        It is a third-generation launch vehicle. It is termed as the ‘Workhorse of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)‘.
        
        It is the first launch vehicle of India that has liquid stages. There is a total of 4 stages in this launch vehicle.
        
        First Stage – PS 1 – PSLV uses the S139 solid rocket motor that is augmented by 6 solid strap-on boosters.
        
        Second Stage – PS 2 – PSLV uses an Earth storable liquid rocket engine for its second stage, known as the Vikas engine, developed by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
        
        Third Stage – It is a solid rocket motor that provides the upper stages high thrust after the atmospheric phase of the launch.
        
        Fourth Stage – The PS4 is the uppermost stage of PSLV, comprising of two Earth storable liquid engines.
        
        The first successful launch of PSLV was in October 1994.
        
        It has the following variants:
        
        PSLV-G: It has strap-on motors
        
        PSLV – CA: It does not have strap-on motors
        
        PSLV – XL: It has strap-on motors
        
        The capacity of payloads:
        
        It can carry the payload of 1750 kg to sun-synchronous polar orbits (SSPO) (Altitude – 600 Kms).
        
        It can carry the payload of 1425 kg to Geosynchronous and Geostationary Orbits (GTO).
        
        It has launched Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites.
        
        Both PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) are the satellite-launch vehicles (rockets) developed by ISRO. PSLV is designed mainly to deliver the “earth-observation” or “remote-sensing” satellites with lift-off mass of up to about 1750 Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of 600-900 Km altitude.
      - What is GSLV?
        
        GSLV-Mk II is the largest launch vehicle developed by India. The salient features of this launch vehicle are mentioned below:
        
        It is a fourth-generation launch vehicle.
        
        It has three stages.
        
        First stage – The 138-tonne solid rocket motor is augmented by 4 liquid strap-ons.
        
        Second stage – One Vikas engine is used in the second stage of GSLV.
        
        Third Stage – Developed under the Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP), the CE-7.5 is India’s first cryogenic engine, developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
        
        It has four liquid-engine strap-ons.
        
        The first flight by GSLV was on 18th April 2001.
        
        The capacity of payloads:
        
        It can carry 2500 kgs INSAT class of communication satellites and place it to GTO.
        
        It can carry 5000 kgs heavy satellites to multiple smaller satellites in LEO.
        
        The GSLV is designed mainly to deliver the communication-satellites to the highly elliptical (typically 250 x 36000 Km) Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). The satellite in GTO is further raised to its final destination, viz., Geo-synchronous Earth orbit (GEO) of about 36000 Km altitude (and zero deg inclination on equatorial plane) by firing its in-built on-board engines.
        
        GSLV-F10
        
        In 2021, a high-level panel was established to examine the failed Geosynchronous Satellite GSLV-F10/Earth Observation Satellites (EOS)-03 mission and recommended measures for making the Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) more robust.
        
        Cryogenic Upper Stage
        
        GSLV follows a solid fuel first stage with another liquid fuel stage coming next. The second stage is followed by a third stage known as CUS.
        
        It was the rocket’s crucial third stage, which then failed to ignite and led to the failure of the GSLV-F10.
        
        The cryogenic stage is technically a very complex system compared to solid or earth-storable liquid propellant stages due to its use of propellants at extremely low temperatures and the associated thermal and structural problems.
        
        The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with improvements added to its CUS is expected to be ready in the second half of this year.
      - Abort Mission for Gaganyaan
        
        Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will conduct two unmanned 'Abort Mission' in 2022 to ensure crew safety during the Gaganyaan mission.
        
        This is a part of ISRO's roadmap for the country's first manned flight to space.
        
        The first test vehicle for this purpose was launched in September 2021.
        
        The abort missions are meant to test the systems that can help the crew escape from the spacecraft mid-flight in case of a failure.
        
        ISRO already conducted a pad abort test — where the crew can escape from the spacecraft in case of an emergency at the launch pad — in 2018.
        
        For the abort missions, ISRO has developed test vehicles that can send the systems up to a certain height, simulate failure, and then check the escape system.
        
        Escape system is designed with five “quick-acting” solid fuel motors with a high burn rate propulsion system, and fins to maintain stability.
        
        The crew escape system will separate from the crew module by firing explosive nuts.
        
        ISRO's focus is on perfecting the system that will launch and land Indians on missions to space and to protect the astronauts if the mission fails.
        
        Gaganyaan Mission
        
        Under the Gaganyaan schedule (to be launched in 2023)
        
        Three flights will be sent into orbit.
        
        There will be two unmanned flights and one human spaceflight.
        
        The payload will consist of:
        
        Crew module: Spacecraft carrying human beings.
        
        Service module: Powered by two liquid propellant engines.
        
        It will be equipped with emergency escape and emergency mission abort.
        
        The Gaganyaan system module, called the Orbital Module will have three Indian astronauts, including a woman.
        
        It will circle Earth at a low-earth-orbit at an altitude of 300-400 km from earth for 5-7 days.
        
        GSLV Mk III, also called the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3,) the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability.
        
        The Indian Navy and ISRO recently conducted recovery trials along with Indian Navy. The simulation was provided by the Water Survival Test Facility of ISRO.
        
        Significance of Gaganyaan Mission
        
        It will help in enhancement of science and technology levels in the country and help inspire youth.
        
        Gaganyaan will involve numerous agencies, laboratories, disciplines, industries and departments.
        
        It will help in improvement of industrial growth.
        
        Recently, the Government has announced a new organisation, IN-SPACe, part of reforms to increase private participation in the space sector.
        
        It will help in development of technology for social benefits.
        
        It will help in improving international collaboration.
        
        One International Space Station (ISS) put up by multiple countries may not be enough. Regional ecosystems will be needed and Gaganyaan will focus on regional needs: food, water and energy security.
        
        HS200 Solid Rocket Booster for Gaganyaan Mission
        
        The booster engine is part of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MkIII (GSLV Mk III) rocket that will carry Indian astronauts to space.
        
        The GSLV Mk-III rocket which will be used for the Gaganyaan mission will have two HS200 boosters which will supply the thrust for lift-off.
        
        The HS200 is a 20-metre-long booster with a diameter of 3.2 metres and is the world’s second largest operational booster using solid propellants.
        
        The HS200 is the human-rated version of the S200 rocket booster of satellite launch vehicle GSLV Mk III, popularly known as LVM3.
        
        Since Gaganyaan is a crewed mission, the GSLV Mk-III will have improvements to increase reliability and safety to meet the requirements of 'human rating.'
        
        The S200 motor - the first stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle designed to deliver 4,000 kg satellites to geosynchronous transfer orbit - was configured as a strap-on rocket booster.
        
        This full-duration test of the first stage of the launch vehicle marks a major milestone for the Gaganyaan programme.
        
        Design and development of the HS200 booster was completed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram, and propellant casting was completed at Sriharikota.
        
        Out of the three propulsion stages of LVM3, the human-rated versions of the second-stage known as L110-G loaded with liquid propellant and the third stage C25-G with cryogenic propellant are in the final phase of qualification, including tests with static firing.
        
        Astronauts for Gaganyaan Programme
        
        For the first crewed mission of the Gaganyaan program, astronaut trainees are selected from the pool of test pilots, based on selection criteria jointly defined by ISRO and the Indian air force which comprises flying experience, fitness, psychological and aeromedical evaluation (including anthropometric parameters).
        
        Four Indian air force officers have been selected and they have completed their foreign leg of training in Russia. They underwent generic space flight training and the Indian leg will see them getting familiar with all conceivable situations that can happen while in flight.
        
        The crew will also undergo training in weightlessness conditions by flying in special aircraft along a parabolic path that will give 25 to 30 seconds duration of weightlessness.
        
        To familiarise the crew with rescue under abort conditions, they will also undergo special survival training in sea, snow, mountain, and desert conditions.
        
        Vyommitra
        
        Vyommitra is a female-looking spacefaring humanoid robot being developed by the ISRO to function onboard the Gaganyaan.
        
        Vyommitra was first unveiled on 22 January 2020 at the Human Spaceflight and Exploration symposium in Bengaluru.
        
        It will accompany Indian astronauts in space missions and will also be a part of uncrewed experimental Gaganyaan missions before the crewed spaceflight missions.
        
        Indian agencies are collaborating with ISRO in Gaganyaan Mission
        
        Indian Armed Forces
        
        Defence Research Development organization
        
        Indian maritime agencies – Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Shipping Corporation of India, National Institute of Oceanography, National Institute of Ocean Technology.
        
        Indian Meteorological Department
        
        CSIR Labs
        
        Academic institutes
        
        Industry partners
        
        China’s Space Station
        
        Tiangong
        
        China’s strategically significant space station project entered the final phase as three astronauts entered the orbiting module of the Tiangong Space Station.
        
        They were launched into the designated orbit by the Shenzhou-14 spacecraft.
        
        Shenzhou-1 to 4 space flights were unmanned spaceflight missions.
        
        Shenzhou-5 to 14 spaceflights are manned spaceflight missions.
        
        A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting crew members, designed to remain in space for an extended period of time and for other spacecraft to dock.
        
        Tiangong Space Station
        
        The Tiangong space station is a Chinese space station being built in low Earth orbit between 340 and 450 kilometers above the earth.
        
        It is part of China Manned Space Program and is the country's first long-term space station.
        
        China is going to operationalize its new Tiangong multi-module space station for at least ten years.
        
        China launched an unmanned module named "Tianhe", or "Harmony of the Heavens" for its permanent space station in 2021 that it plans to complete by the end of 2022.
        
        Tianhe core module is the first module to launch the Tiangong space station module.
        
        The Chinese government decided to launch a human space programme using a "three-step" method in 1992 which is known as the China Manned Space Program.
        
        The 1st step: To launch manned spaceships to master basic human space technologies.
        
        The 2nd step: To launch Space Labs to make technological breakthrough in R&D, and accommodation of long-term man-tended utilization on a modest scale
        
        The 3rd step: To construct China’s Space Station to accommodate long-term man-tended utilization on a large scale
        
        It is managed by the China Manned Space Agency.
        
        India's Space Station Programmes
        
        India is planning to launch its own space station by 2030, joining the league of US, Russia, and China to an elite space club.
        
        The Indian space station will be much smaller (mass of 20 tonnes) than the International Space Station and will be used for carrying out microgravity experiments (not for space tourism).
        
        Preliminary plan for the space station is to accommodate astronauts for up to 20 days in space, and the project will be an extension of the Gaganyaan mission.
        
        It will orbit Earth at an altitude of around 400 km.
        
        ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) is working on a space docking experiment (Spandex), a technology that is crucial for making the space station functional.
        
        Space docking is a technology that allows transferring humans from one spacecraft to another.
        
        Perseverance Rover Captures Eclipse on Mars
        
        Perseverance Rover
        
        Perseverance is the most advanced, most expensive and most sophisticated mobile laboratory sent to Mars.
        
        It is different from previous missions because it is capable of drilling and collecting core samples of the most promising rocks and soils and setting them aside in a "cache" on the surface of Mars.
        
        It is the centerpiece of NASA's Mars 2020 mission which also included the small robotic and coaxial helicopter Ingenuity.
        
        Launch: 30th July 2020
        
        Landing: 18th February 2021
        
        A Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) which converts heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium (Plutonium Dioxide) into electricity.
        
        Perseverance’s primary objective is looking for signs of ancient microbial life.
        
        The rover is studying and analyzing the Red Planet's regolith, rock and dust, and is the first rover to collect and cache samples.
        
        NASA’s Perseverance finds organic matter on Mars
        
        The Perseverance Rover has collected several organic rock samples from an ancient river delta on Mars.
        
        These samples are currently stored for collection by future Mars missions that would return them back to the Earth.
        
        These rock samples have large concentration of organic matter, the highest concentration since the start of the mission.
        
        With the latest collection, the rover has now collected a total of 12 samples.
        
        One of the rocks the Perseverance collected was nicknamed as Wildcat Ridge. This rock was likely formed when mud and sand settled in a saltwater lake as it evaporated billions of years ago.
        
        An instrument aboard the rover called SHERLOC (Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals) found that these samples contain a class of organic molecules that correlate with those of sulfate minerals.
        
        Sulfate minerals found in layers of sedimentary rock can provide insights into the watery environment on which the rock samples were discovered.
        
        The instrument’s analysis revealed that the organic materials may possibly be aromatics or stable molecules of carbon and hydrogen, which are connected to sulfates.
        
        This suggests that when the lake was evaporating, both sulfates and organic molecules deposited, preserved and concentrated in the region.
        
        Mars
        
        It is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System.
        
        Mars is about half the size of Earth.
        
        As Mars orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 24.6 hours, which is very similar to one day on Earth (23.9 hours).
        
        Mars' axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. This is similar with Earth, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees.
        
        Like Earth, Mars has distinct seasons, but they last longer than seasons on Earth since Mars takes longer to orbit the Sun (because it's farther away).
        
        Martian days are called sols—short for ‘solar day’.
        
        It has colors such as brown, gold and tan. The reason Mars looks reddish is due to oxidation or rusting of iron in the rocks, and dust of Mars. Hence it is also called Red Planet.
        
        Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system i.e. Olympus Mons. It's three times taller than Earth's Mt. Everest with a base the size of the state of New Mexico.
        
        Mars has a thin atmosphere made up mostly of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon gases.
        
        Mars has no magnetic field till date, but areas of the Martian crust in the southern hemisphere are highly magnetized, indicating traces of a magnetic field.
        
        Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, that may be captured asteroids.
        
        NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Perseverance Rover has captured a solar eclipse on Mars.
        
        Perseverance Mars rover captured an eclipse featuring Phobos, one of Mars' two moons. Phobos is moving very slowly towards Mars, and millions of years from now, they will collide.
        
        These observations can help scientists better understand the moon’s orbit and how its gravity pulls on the Martian surface, ultimately shaping the Red Planet’s crust and mantle.
        
        Solar and Lunar Eclipse
        
        Eclipses may be classified into 4 types i.e. Annular, Total, Partial and Hybrid
        
        The type of eclipse we experience depends on the type of shadow that is involved.
        
        Both the Moon and Earth cast 3 shadows: umbra, penumbra, and an antumbra.
        
        The umbra is a shadow's dark core: It means If you are standing within the umbra, you will not be able to see any part of the light source as the object blocks all direct light rays.
        
        The penumbra is a half-shadow that occurs when a light source is only partly covered by an object
        
        Antumbra – the lighter part of the shadow that begins where the umbra ends.
        
        Total solar eclipse
        
        Total solar eclipses occur when the New Moon comes between the Sun and Earth and casts the darkest part of its shadow, the umbra, on Earth. A full solar eclipse, known as totality, is almost as dark as night.
        
        2 more items...
        
        During a total eclipse of the Sun, the Moon covers the entire disk of the Sun. In partial and annular solar eclipses, the Moon blocks only part of the Sun.
        
        When Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun, only the Sun's corona is visible.
        
        It is called Total eclipse because at the maximum point of the eclipse( midpoint of time of totality), the sky goes dark and temperatures can fall.
        
        Annular solar eclipse
        
        When the Sun is nearest to Earth and the Moon is at or near its greatest distance, the Moon appears smaller than the Sun in the sky. When an eclipse of the Sun happens in this situation, the Moon will not appear large enough to cover the disk of the Sun completely, and a rim or ring of light will remain visible in the sky.
        
        2 more items...
        
        Hybrid Eclipse
        
        A hybrid eclipse is a type of solar eclipse that looks like an annular solar eclipse or a total solar eclipse, depending on the observer's location along the central eclipse path.
        
        1 more item...
        
        During a hybrid solar eclipse, the Earth's curvature brings some sections of the eclipse path into the Moon's umbra, the darkest part of its shadow that creates total solar eclipses, while other areas remain outside the umbra's reach, causing an annular eclipse.
        
        Partial Eclipses
        
        Both solar and lunar eclipses may also occur as Partial Eclipses.
        
        A partial eclipse of the Sun also results when the Moon’s penumbra falls on Earth but its umbra does not.
        
        A partial eclipse of the Moon occurs when the Moon passes through only part of Earth’s umbra or only its penumbra.
        
        The Moon does experience total eclipses. If the eclipse is a total lunar eclipse, the Moon will pass through the umbra (area of total shadow) created by Earth over the course of about two hours.
        
        There are no Annular lunar eclipse because the Earth is much bigger than the Moon, and its shadow will never be small enough to leave a ring.
        
        Since Moon is much smaller than Earth, there is no path of totality in a lunar eclipse. The eclipse will be visible to any observer on the night side of Earth when the eclipse occurs.
        
        During lunar eclipse, Moon does not typically go completely dark; it often takes on a red color, because the redder parts of sunlight that penetrate Earth’s atmosphere are refracted into the umbra, and this light reaches the Moon.
        
        Blue Straggler Stars
        
        Blue Straggler Star are hot, blue, massive stars and seem to have a different trajectory of evolution from the norm.
        
        There are a few stars that, when they are expected to start expanding in size and cooling down, do just the opposite.
        
        They grow brighter and hotter as indicated by their blue color.
        
        Thus, standing out from the cooler red stars in their vicinity in the color-magnitude diagram.
        
        Since they lag their peers in evolution, they are called stragglers, more specifically, blue stragglers, because of their hot, blue color.
        
        Allan Sandage (an astronomer with Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California) discovered blue stragglers in the globular cluster M3 in 1952-53.
        
        Most are located at least several thousand light-years away from the sun, and most are around 12 billion years old or more.
        
        The Milky Way's largest and brightest globular is Omega Centauri.
        
        3 more items...
        
        How is the Age or Evolution of a Star Studied?
        
        To study the behavior of the star, a graph of the color of a star against its magnitude is plotted.
        
        This gives an indication of star’s surface temperature, which is related to the total energy given off by it.
        
        If all the stars are done in a globular cluster, many stars are seen to find a place within a band known as the main sequence.
        
        This graph is called the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
        
        This diagram plots the temperature of stars against their luminosity or the color of stars against their absolute magnitude.
        
        It shows a group of stars in various stages of their evolution.
        
        For example, our Sun is what is called a main sequence star.
        
        2 more items...
        
        Bernardinelli-Berstein Comet
        
        news
        
        3 more items...
        
        Bernardinelli-Berstein Comet
        
        7 more items...
        
        Comet
        
        10 more items...
        
        Comets Come From
        
        2 more items...
        
        Jupiter’s Moon Europa
        
        4 more items...
      - ISRO launches second developmental flight SSLV D2----SSLV can carry a payload of up to 500 kg. It is one of the low-cost space crafts of ISRO, can carry more than one satellite, requires very less launch infrastructure, and provides very less turnaround time.
        
        ES-07
        
        It was developed by ISRO. It weighs 156 kg. It carries a spectrum monitoring payload and humidity sounder. It is an earth observation satellite.
        
        Janus-1
        
        The satellite was developed by the USA. The weight of the satellite was 10.2 kg. It is a demonstration satellite developed by ANTARIS.
        
        Azaadi SAT-2
        
        It was developed by SpaceKidz India. Around 750 girl students participated in developing the satellite. The satellite has voice and data transmission equipment, a selfie camera, and also UHF and VHF transponders.
        
        SSLV-D1
        
        It was a failure as the rocket did not put the satellites in the right orbit. Recently ISRO released the reasons for the failure of the mission in its analysis report.