Science & Tech Flashcards
CLEANING UP SPACE DEBRIS
As part of the space junk cleanup, a new device named space harpoon that captures junk has been tested successfully. It is part of the RemoveDEBRIS project, a multi-organization European effort to create and test methods of reducing space debris.
The Remove Debris Mission
The Remove Debris mission is led by the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey. UK and co-funded by various other partners from EU.
The Remove Debris satellite platform will showcase four methods for release, capture and deorbit two space debris targets, called DebriSATs:
Net capture: It involves a net that will be deployed at the target CubeSat.
Harpoon Capture: Which will be launched at a target plate made of “representative satellite panel materials”
Vision-based navigation: Using cameras and LiDAR (light detection and ranging), the platform will send data about the debris back to the ground for processing.
De-orbiting process: As it enters Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft will burn up, leaving no debris behind.
The mission will demonstrate key Active Debris Removal (ADR) technologies in orbit, which will have significance for future missions as well.
Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee
It is an international governmental forum for the worldwide coordination of activities related to the issues of man-made and natural debris in space.
It aims to exchange information on space debris research activities between member space agencies, to facilitate opportunities for cooperation in space debris research, to review the progress of ongoing cooperative activities, and to identify debris mitigation options.
ISRO is also a member of this committee.
Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet
DRDO successfully flight tested the second indigenously developed ‘Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR)’ propulsion-based missile system, the first test of which was carried out in May 2018
SFDR is an Indo-Russian R&D project which has been established to develop a long-range air-to-air missile and a surface-to-air missile system in near future. It was started in 2013 to develop the technology and demonstrate it in 5 years.
The Defence Research Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad is the lead agency for the collaborative mission project.
SFDR technology, based on the ramjet propulsion system depends only on its forward motion at supersonic speed to compress intake air and the engine flow-path components have no moving parts.
Unlike solid rocket propellant whose formulation is approximately 20% fuel and 80% oxidizer, the solid ramjet fuel is 100% fuel and obtains oxidizer from air, with the result being approximately four times the specific impulse (the product of thrust and time divided by propellant weight) as compared to solid rocket propellant.
Hence, this air breathing ramjet propulsion technology helps propel the missile at high supersonic speeds (above Mach 2) for engaging targets at long ranges.
Consequently, it has inherent simplicity, reliability, lightweight, and high-speed flight capability not possible with other air-breathing engines
PARAM Shivay
Recently PARAM Shivay, the first super computer designed & built under the National Supercomputing Mission by C-DAC (Center for Development of Advanced Computing) at IIT-BHU was launched.
Top-500 Project
Started in 1993, it ranks the 500 most powerful non-distributed computers in the world.
It publishes an updated list of the supercomputers twice a year.
Currently, China dominates the list with 229 supercomputers, leading the second place (United States) by a record margin of 121.
Since June 2018, the American “Summit” is the world’s most powerful supercomputer, based on the LINPACK benchmarks.
LINPACK benchmark are a measure of a system’s floating point computer power. It measures how far a computer solves a nxn system of linear equations.
India has 4 supercomputers in the Top-500 list of the world’s top 500 supercomputers with Pratyush and Mihir being the fastest supercomputers in India.
Measles
Measles and Rubella are highly contagious viral diseases that are spread by contact with an infected person through coughing and sneezing.
o Measles weakens the immune system and opens the door to secondary health problems, such as pneumonia, blindness, diarrhoea etc. This virus is an exclusive human pathogen and has no animal reservoirs or vectors.
Rubella
Rubella, also known as German Measles, is generally a mild disease but can have serious consequences
for pregnant women and their children as it may cause
congenital rubella syndrome in the foetus
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR VIRAL HEPATITIS CONTROL
Recently, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched National Action Plan for Viral Hepatitis.
The Plan provides a strategic framework, based on which National Viral Hepatitis Control Program was launched in 2018 under National Health Mission.
It is in line with the Government of India’s deep commitment towards elimination of viral hepatitis.
Hepatitis
It is an inflammation of the liver often cause by virus and other infections, toxic substances (e.g. alcohol, certain drugs).
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
o Viral hepatitis types B and C can cause chronic hepatitis and are responsible for 96% of overall hepatitis mortality while Hepatitis A and E usually cause acute hepatitis.
o Hepatitis A and E are typically caused by ingestion of contaminated food or water.
o Hepatitis B, C and D usually occur as a result of contact with infected body fluids such as during receiving blood, invasive medical procedures using contaminated equipment, transmission from mother to baby at birth, sexual contact etc.
o There are vaccines to prevent hepatitis A, B and E. However, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C.
o Also, Hepatitis D virus (HDV) infections occur only in those who are infected with Hepatitis B Virus.
The infections can progress to other health complications and liver cancers.
ElectroMagnetic Intelligence Satellite (EMISAT)
EMISAT was jointly developed by ISRO and DRDO, two frontline research agencies of the country. EMISAT will allow India to intercept the radars by detecting the electromagnetic rays from “enemy radar”
The satellite has been placed in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an orbit about 700 km from Earth as the objective is to detect low power radar signals.Such radars are typically used to track by low-altitude air-borne vehicles, including aircraft and drones.
The Ministry of Defence had initiated the development of the satellite under the project titled Kautilya, which was first openly acknowledged in 2013-14.
UNISPACE NANOSATELLITE ASSEMBLY & TRAINING PROGRAMME (UNNATI)
Recently ISRO launched a capacity building programme on Nanosatellite development named UNNATI.
It is an initiative to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations conference on the exploration and peaceful uses of outer space (UNISPACE+50).
• It would provide opportunities to the participating developing countries to strengthen in assembling, integrating and testing of Nanosatellite.
Young Scientist Programme/
YUva VIgyani KAryakram (Yuvika)
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has recently launched Young Scientist Programme for school students.
• It aims to inculcate and nurture space research fervor in young minds
• Under this 1-month program, 3 students from each of the 29 States and 7 UTs will be selected.
• Students mostly from class VIII will be given lectures and access to R&D labs and practical experience of building a small satellite.
• It is conceptualized after the similar Programme run by the American Space Agency NASA.
Eligibility: Students who have just finished 9th standard (in the academic year 2018-19) and waiting to join 10th standard (or those who have started 10th Std just now)
• All the expenses of travelling and boarding will be funded entirely by ISRO.
• Under this, six incubation centres will be established in various parts of the country - North, South, East, West, Centre and North-East, and the first such centre has been established in Agartala in Tripura
Samvad with Students
ISRO recently launched a student outreach programme called Samvad with Students where ISRO chairman meets the students during his outstation visits and address their queries and quench the scientific thrust.
ANUSAT
ANUSAT (Anna University Satellite) is the first satellite built by an Indian University under the overall guidance of ISRO and will demonstrate the technologies related to message store and forward operations
STUDSAT
Student Satellite (STUDSAT) is the first pico-satellite developed in the country by a consortium of seven engineering colleges from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
YOUTHSAT
A joint Indo-Russian stellar and atmospheric satellite mission with the participation of students. to investigate the relationship between solar variability and thermosphere-Ionosphere changes
SRMSat:
A nanosatellite weighing 10.9 kg, developed by SRM University, which attempts to address the problem of Global warming and pollution levels in the atmosphere by monitoring CO2 and water vapour.
Jugnu:
A nanosatellite weighing 3 kg, developed by IIT Kanpur under the guidance of ISRO. The satellite is intended to prove the indigenously developed camera system for imaging the Earth in the near infrared region and test image processing algorithms.
Eat Right India Movement’.
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) recently organised the Swasth Bharat Yatra, a key element of the ‘Eat Right India Movement’.
It is built on two broad pillars of Eat Healthy and Eat Safe
GAS HYDRATES
Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have experimentally shown that methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) can exist as gas hydrates.
They are formed when a gas such as methane gets trapped in well-defined cages of water molecules forming crystalline solids. It is a solid ice-like form of water that contains gas molecules in its molecular cavities.
• Natural gas hydrates occur on continental margins and shelves worldwide from Polar Regions to the tropics.
• Gas hydrate reservoirs are generally associated with biologically rich cold seep ecosystems at the seafloor. Cold seeps are locations where hydrocarbon-rich fluid seeps up from below the sea floor, often as methane or hydrogen sulfide.
• It is estimated that total amount of carbon in the form of methane hydrates, far exceeds the carbon content in all the fossil fuel reserves put together and hence these are supposed to be the future potential energy resource.
India has the second largest gas hydrate reserves after America. The Krishna-Godavari (KG), Cauvery and Kerala basins alone have 100-130 trillion cubic feet of estimated reserves.
Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi
- The RAN was set up to provide financial assistance to patients, living below poverty line and who are suffering from major life threatening diseases, to receive medical treatment at any of the super speciality Hospitals/Institutes or other Government hospitals.
- The financial assistance to such patients is released in the form of ‘one-time grant’, which is released to the Medical Superintendent of the Hospital in which the treatment has been/is being received.
- It has been set up as society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.
Which is the first state to release a Rare Diseases and Orphan Drugs Policy.
Karnataka
BULLSEQUANA SUPERCOMPUTER
France-based company Atos signed agreement with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) for designing, building and installing BullSequana – the supercomputer in India.
BullSequana will be set up in India under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
GSAT-11
GSAT-11, the heaviest satellite built by ISRO was launched from French Guiana by Areane 5 Rocket of European Space Agency.
• It weighs around 5855 Kg, double the size of biggest satellite built by ISRO till now. ISRO’s most powerful launcher GSLV-Mk III can launch satellite weighing up to 4000 kg only.
• It is part of ISRO’s new family of high-throughout
communication satellite (HTS) fleet that will drive the country’s Internet Broadband from space to untouched areas. It is built to provide throughput data rate of 16 gbps.
o The broadband domain is currently ruled by underground fiber and covers partial and convenient locations.
• It carries 40 transponders in Ku (32)/ Ka (8) Band. For the First time use of Ka-Band is introduced in India through GSAT-11.
• It will be placed in a circular geo-stationary orbit almost 36,000 Km. away and settle at 74° E in India
Ku vs Ka Band
Ku band ranges between 12-18 GHz while Ka Band ranges from 26.5-40 GHz.
• Ka-band has data transmission rates that are hundreds of times faster.
• Most satellites today use Ku Band Transponders because it is difficult to build hardware and software for Ka Band Transponders.
• Allocation and regulation of electromagnetic spectrum into different frequency bands is done by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom Sensing-2 (VISIONS-2) Mission
NASA has launched VISIONS-2 Mission.
It is a sounding rocket mission to get a closer look at the how the Earth’s atmosphere is slowly leaking into space.
• The aurora borealis is of keen interest to the VISIONS-2 team as they are fundamental drivers in the process of atmospheric escape.
It is the first of nine sounding rockets launching over the next 14 months as part of the Grand Challenge Initiative - cusp, an international
collaboration to explore the unusual portal between Earth and space.
Aurora Borealis
The auroras are formed when energetic electrons, accelerated in the electric and magnetic fields from sun in near-Earth space, crash into and excite atmospheric gases, which emit bright hues of red, green, and yellow as they relax back to a lower energy state.
• The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as ‘Aurora borealis’ in the north and ‘Aurora Australis’ in the south.
Polar Cusps
• At almost any location near the surface of the magnetopause, the Earth’s magnetic field provides a natural barrier to the solar wind particles. However, there are two regions, located above each pole, where solar wind particles have a direct access to the Earth’s ionosphere. These regions are known as the polar cusp.
SOYUZ
Recently, a Soyuz Rocket carrying astronauts from Russia, USA and Canada was successfully launched into orbit since a failed launch in October.
The Soyuz is a Russian spacecraft which carries
people and supplies to and from the space station.
- It has room for three people to ride in it. The spacecraft also brings food and water to the space station.
- It is like a lifeboat. At least one Soyuz is always attached to the space station. If there were an emergency on the space station, the crew could use the Soyuz to leave the space station and return to Earth.
- Currently only this Russian spacecraft carry people to ISS after USA retired its space shuttle in 2011.
International Space Station (ISS)
- ISS is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
- Its first component was launched into orbit in 1998, with the first long-term residents arriving in November 2000. The Station is expected to operate till 2030.
- It is the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit and can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
- It serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory.
- It is a joint project among five participating space agencies: NASA (USA), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).
- China launched its first experimental space station, Tiangong 1, in September 2011.
Sun-spot Cycle?
Recently, scientists from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research have developed a way of predicting the intensity of activity in the next solar cycle (approximately from 2020 to 2031).
What is Sun-spot Cycle?
• The amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun’s surface varies with time in a cycle called the solar cycle. This cycle lasts 11 years on average. This cycle is referred to as the sunspot cycle.
• They are darker, magnetically strong, cooler areas on the surface of the sun in a region called the photosphere
It will help in understanding of the long-term variations of the Sun and its impact on earth climate which is one of the objectives of India’s first solar probe – ‘Aditya L-1 Mission’
TELEROBOTIC SURGERY
India became the world’s first to successfully perform a telerobotic coronary intervention.
• It is a robotic method of performing heart surgery. With the help of the internet and a robotic tower, a surgeon is able to treat patients from a distance.
• This technology is especially important for high emergency situations of heart attacks and stroke, where ideal treatment must be received within 90 minutes or 24 hours.
National Medical Devices Promotion Council
To give a fillip to the medical device sector, a National Medical Devices Promotion Council will be set up under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
The Council will be headed by Secretary, DIPP. Apart from the concerned departments of Government of India, it will also have representatives from health care industry and quality control institutions
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority [NPPA]
• It is an independent body under Department of Pharmaceuticals under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• Its functions are:
o To fix/revise the controlled bulk drugs prices and formulations.
o To enforce prices and availability of the medicines under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995/2013.
o To recover amounts overcharged by manufacturers for the controlled drugs from the consumers.
o To monitor the prices of decontrolled drugs in order to keep them at reasonable levels.
Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO)
• It is the national regulatory body for Indian pharmaceuticals & medical devices under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
DNA TECHNOLOGY (USE AND APPLICATION) REGULATION BILL
Lok Sabha recently passed DNA Technology (Use
and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019.
• The Bill regulates the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of persons in respect of criminal matters and civil matters such as parentage disputes, transplantation of human organs etc.
• The bill also provides for: establishment of a DNA Regulatory Board; accreditation of DNA laboratories undertaking DNA testing, analysing, etc.; establishment of the National and Regional DNA Data Banks.
• Written consent by individuals is required to collect DNA samples from them. Consent is not required for offences with punishment of more than seven years of imprisonment or death.
HUMAN MICROBIOME
Indian Human Microbiome Initiative, led by The National Centre for Microbial Resource (NCMR) -National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) has been put up for approval.
The project will include collection of saliva, stool and skin swabs of 20,000 Indians across various ethnic groups from different geographical regions.
- The collective genome of all micro-organisms contained within the human body, residing inside tissues & bio-fluids is called Human Microbiome. It includes bacteria, archaea, fungi, protists and viruses.
- Most of them have either commensal (coexist without harming humans) or mutualistic (each benefit from the other) relation.
- The composition of microbiome is shaped by factors such as genetics, dietary habits, age, geographic location and ethnicity.
- Human microbiome makes up around 2% of the body mass of the adult. There are 10 times as many outside organisms as there are human cells in human body.
Importance of the Human Microbiome
• Microbial communities play a key role in many aspects of host physiology: o Metabolism of otherwise complex indigestible carbohydrates and fats o Production of essential vitamins o Maintaining immune systems o Acting as a first line of defense against pathogens. o Determines how one responds to a particular drug treatment
Human Microbiome Project (HMP)
• It is a research initiative of US’s National Institute of Health with the mission to generate the resources and expertise needed to characterize the human microbiome and analyze its role in health and disease.
• Launched in 2007, it is focused on identifying and characterizing human microbial fauna and elucidating their roles in health and diseases.
• Some methodologies used in HMP are:
o Metagenomics, a sequence-based approach that allows the genetic material from the complete collection of microbes to be analyzed in their natural
environment without needing to cultivate the microorganisms.
o Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to provide a “deep” genetic perspective on aspects of a given microbial community, i.e. individual bacterial species.
SALSA
Recently, an international team of scientists began
a research named SALSA (SUBGLACIAL
ANTARCTIC LAKES SCIENTIFIC ACCESS) for study
of microbes and living specimens in a Subglacial
Lake Mercer of Antarctica.
• This project could add to understanding of the
evolution of life in these extreme environments on
earth and other celestial bodies such as habitats
deep inside Mars or on the ice-covered moons of
Jupiter and Saturn.
• A subglacial lake is a body of liquid water located in
between an ice sheet and the continental land
mass. The water remains liquid because the ice
sheet above the water acts as an insulator and
traps geothermal heat from the Earth’s crust.
CRISPR-Cas9
CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9.
o It was adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system in bacteria.
o It is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient than other existing genome editing methods
o CRISPR is the DNA-targeting part of the system which consists of an RNA molecule, or ‘guide’, designed to bind to specific DNA bases through complementary base-pairing.
o Cas9 is the nuclease part that cuts the DNA.
Earth BioGenome Project
It aims to sequence, catalog and characterize he genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic biodiversity over a period of ten years.
• It involves projects by various countries:
o US-led project to sequence the genetic code of tens of thousands of vertebrates.
o Chinese project to sequence 10,000 plant genomes.
o The Global Ant Genomes Alliance, which aims to sequence around 200 ant genomes.
o UK participants, led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute, will also sequence the genetic codes of all 66,000 species inhabiting Britain in a national effort called the Darwin Tree of Life.
• The initiative would produce a database of biological information (shared online for free), that provides a platform for scientific research and supports environmental and conservation initiatives.
• The participating institutions would raise their own funding as far as possible. However, the project has the backing of the World Economic Forum.
Genome:
It is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. In humans, it is contained in all cells that
have a nucleus.
Eukaryotes
• These are organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed by membranes.
• These are animals, plants, fungi and protozoa, which encompass all of life except simple microbes (bacteria and
archaea, which are prokaryotes).
HGP-Read:
- This was an international and multi-institutional effort that took 13 years [1990-2003] to produce a blueprint of the human genome.
- The HGP has revealed that there are probably about 20,500 human genes composed of over 3 billion base pairs.
- India did not participate in HGP-read.
HGP-Write:
• This project was launched in 2016 to write or build an artificial human genome from scratch with sophisticated
bioengineering tools.
• Potential applications include growing transplantable human organs, engineering immunity to viruses in cell lines,
engineering cancer resistance into new therapeutic cell lines, and accelerating high-productivity, cost-efficient
vaccine etc.
Genome India Project
- It was launched in 2017 by the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in collaboration with Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (a national institute of the Department of Biotechnology).
- It seeks to carry out Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of over 2,000 individuals spanning different ethnic, linguistic and socio-cultural sections of the northeastern states.
- It would help in understanding the genetic origins of the different ethnic groups and also an increased understanding of the genetic disease burden which would help in the development of personalised medicine.
100k GenomeAsia Project
A group of Indian scientists and companies are involved with a 100k GenomeAsia project, led
out of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, to sequence the whole genomes of 100k Asians, including 50,000 Indians.
GAGANYAAN MISSION
Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech
announced that ISRO will be sending its first
human spaceflight mission into the space by 2022.
To send a three-member crew to space for a period of five to seven days. The spacecraft will be placed in a low earth orbit of 300-400km.
• This will be the first human mission indigenously developed by ISRO.
• It will comprise of a crew module and service module that constitute an orbital module. The crew will do microgravity experiment during the mission.
• ISRO Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) at Bengaluru will be responsible for implementation of GAGANYAAN Project
ISRO has successfully demonstrated some of the technologies required for the mission such as Space Capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-2007), Crew module Atmospheric Reentry Experiment (CARE-2014), GSLV Mk-III (2014), Reusable Launch Vehicle- Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD), Crew Escape System (2018) and Pad Abort Test (2018). • ISRO also recently unveiled a space capsule (crew module) and Space suit prototype. • ISRO has also finalized the layout and design of Environmental Control & Life Support System (ECLSS).
GSAT
• A GSAT is a series of geosynchronous satellite
placed in geosynchronous orbit, with an orbital
period same as the Earth’s rotation period.
• Such a satellite returns to the same position in the
sky after each day.
• A special case of geosynchronous satellite is the
geostationary satellite, which has a geostationary
orbit – a circular orbit directly above the Earth’s
equator.
Sun Synchronous Orbits (or Low Earth Orbit):
These orbits allows a satellite to pass over a section of the Earth at the same time of day. These satellites orbit at an altitude between 700 to 800 km.
Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO)
Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) is an elliptical orbit,
with an apogee (high point) of 35,784 kilometers and
an inclination roughly equal to the latitude of the
launch site, into which a spacecraft is initially placed
before being transferred to a geosynchronous or
geostationary orbit.
HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING
SATELLITE (HYSIS)
PSLV C43 recently launched India’s first Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS).
- HysIS is an earth observation satellite built around ISRO’s Mini Satellite-2 (IMS-2) bus.
- It was placed into polar sun synchronous orbit and has mission lifespan of 5 years.
- One micro and 29 nano satellites from eight different countries including USA, Australia and Canada were also launched along Hysis by PSLV- C43.
• HySIS combines the power of digital imaging and spectroscopy to attain both spatial and spectral information from an object.
• This result can be then used to identify, measure and locate different materials and their chemical and physical properties. Every pixel in the image contains a continuous spectrum (in radiance or reflectance) and can be used to characterize the objects in the scene with great precision and detail.
• Hyperspectral images provide much more detailed information about the scene by dividing the spectrum into many more bands than a normal color camera, which only acquires three different spectral channels
corresponding to the visual primary colors red, green and blue.
• It was first tried by ISRO in an experimental satellite in May 2008 and later on Chandrayaan-1 mission for mapping lunar mineral resources.
Application: Hyperspectral remote sensing is used for a range of applications like agriculture, forestry, soil survey, geology, coastal zones, inland water studies,
environmental studies, detection of pollution from industries and the military for surveillance or anti-terror operations.
Hyperspectal imaging vs multi spectral imaging
- The main difference between multispectral and hyperspectral is the number of bands and how narrow the bands are.
- Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) uses continuous and contiguous ranges of wavelengths (e.g. 400 - 1100 nm in steps of 0.1 nm) whilst multispectral imaging (MSI) uses a subset of targeted wavelengths at chosen locations (e.g. 400 - 1100 nm in steps of 20 nm).
- Hyperspectral imagery consists of much narrower bands (10-20 nm). A hyperspectral image could have hundreds or thousands of bands. In general, it comes from an imaging spectrometer.
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has commissioned the development of a Hyper Spectral Programme for monitoring suspicious moments along the international border and some parts within the country.
GSAT 29
With a lift-off mass of 3423 kg, GSAT 29 is a
multi-beam, multiband communication
satellite of India and is the heaviest satellite
launched from India. It will bridge the digital
divide of users including those in Jammu &
Kashmir and North Eastern regions of India.
PS4 in PSLV C-44
Normally, the last stage of a PSLV rocket after releasing the primary satellite in space becomes dead and categorised as debris. However, in PSLV-C44, the fourth stage (PS4) of the vehicle would be moved to higher circular orbit so as to establish an orbital platform for carrying out experiments.
o Payload: Kalamsat (Nano-satellite), a student payload will be the first to use PS4 as orbital platform. Microsat-R is a military imaging satellite
PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle):
It is designed
mainly to deliver the “earth-observation” or “remotesensing”
satellites with lift-off mass of up to about 1750
Kg to Sun-Synchronous circular polar orbits of 600-900
Km altitude.
• PSLV is a four-staged launch vehicle with
alternating solid and liquid stages.
• PSLV is classified into its various versions like
corealone version (PSLV-CA), PSLV-G or PSLV-XL
variants depending on the number of these
strapon boosters
• PSLV is also used to launch the satellites of lower
lift-off mass of up to about 1400 Kg to the elliptical
Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
GSLV (Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle):
GSLV is designed mainly to deliver the communication satellites to the highly elliptical (typically 250 x 36000 Km) Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Two versions of the GSLV:
• GSLV Mk-II: is a three stage vehicle with four liquid strap-ons. First stage using solid rocket motor, second stage using Liquid fuel and Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) forms the third stage of GSLV Mk II. has the capability to launch satellites of liftoff mass of up to 2,500 kg to the GTO and satellites of up to 5,000 kg lift-off mass to the LEO (low earth orbit).
• GSLV MK-III: It is a three stage vehicle with an indigenous cryogenic upper stage engine (C25) with two solid fuel strap-on engines in the first stage, a liquid propellant core as second stage. It has been designed to carry heavier communication satellites weighing up to 4000 kg into the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit or satellites weighing about 10,000 kg to a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
o The indigenous cryogenic C25 engine helps to keep fuel loads on the rocket relatively low. India is among six nations — apart from the US, Russia, France, Japan and China — to possess cryogenic engine technology.
Parker Solar Probe
It is first to fly direct into the Sun’s atmosphere known as corona. The Sun’s unstable corona produces:
solar winds, flares, magnetic and plasma explosions.
• It will take measurements of the Sun’s electric fields and waves.
NASA’s Mission
InSight Mars Lander
• First spacecraft designed to explore the deep interior of the red planet.
• The landing site is Elysium Planitia, close to Mars’ equator.
NASA’s Mission
Opportunity Rover
• It has been recently declared as complete. It confirmed that water once flowed on the Mars.
Cassini-Huygens
- It was launched through collaboration between NASA, ESA and the Italian space agency to study Saturn and its system of rings and moons (Saturn’s largest moon is Titan)
- It was first spacecraft to orbit Saturn.
Voyager 1 and 2
• Voyager 2 has become the second human-made object in history to enter the interstellar space after
crossing the heliopause (region where the tenuous, hot solar wind meets the cold, dense interstellar medium).
• Voyager 1 was the first spacecraft to have entered interstellar space
New Horizons probe
• It recently completed the flyby of the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule and set the record for
the most distant object ever visited by a spacecraft.
• It is the first mission to the Pluto System and the Kuiper belt.
• The farthest ever trajectory correction maneuvers (TCM) or course correction has been performed on this spacecraft
Dawn mission
• Only mission ever to orbit two extraterrestrial targets - giant asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.
• Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. It is only dwarf planet located in the inner circle of the solar system, rest all are located
on the outer edges.
OSIRIS-REx
- It is a space probe launched for a near earth asteroid Bennu in 2016.
- These first images of Bennu present a remarkable similarity with the ones recently obtained by the JAXA Hayabusa2 mission (Japanese mission) of another primitive asteroid, Ryugu.
Lucy Mission
• To be launched in 2021, it will be the first space mission to study the Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids and
will fly by six Trojans and one Main Belt asteroid.
• Trojan Asteroids are any one of a number of asteroids that occupy a stable Lagrangian point in a planet’s orbit around the Sun.
Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission
• It aims to learn more about the generation of cosmic rays in the heliosphere. It is to be launched by 2024.
Kepler Mission
- Kepler is a space observatory launched by NASA to discover Earth-size planets orbiting other stars. It was recently retired.
- The Kepler telescope detects the presence of planets by registering minuscule drops in a star’s brightness that occurs when a planet crosses in front of it, a movement known as a transit.
- Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is its successor.
