China successfully launched a rocket from a ship at sea for the first time, the latest step forward in its ambitious space programme.
The Long March 11 rocket blasted off from a platform on a large semi-submersible barge in the Yellow Sea.
The small rocket designed to be deployed quickly and from mobile launch sites such as a ship, carried seven satellites, including one that measures sea-surface winds to forecast typhoons.
Jun 03, 2019
Singapore Transport Has an Electric Future
Singapore is famed both for its car-lite approach that discourages ownership of personal vehicles, and the steady expansion of its public transport system over the past three decades.
The city state is now working on the next big technological leap that will potentially lead to the roll-out of driverless, fully autonomous buses in partnership with Volvo Buses.
The first trials in this race to autonomy are taking place on the smooth macadam of CETRAN, a comprehensive test centre for autonomous vehicles operated by Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore).
There are two Volvo autonomous electric buses in the trials conducted by NTU scientists. The second one is undergoing tests at a bus depot managed by local transport operator SMRT.
May 31, 2019
'Forbidden planet' seen in Neptunian Desert
Astronomers say they have discovered a rogue exoplanet with its own atmosphere in the Neptunian Desert. NGTS-4b, nick-named 'The Forbidden Planet' is smaller than Neptune but three times the size of Earth, said researchers led by the University of Warwick.
The exoplanet, described in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, has a mass of 20 Earth masses, a radius 20% smaller than Neptune, and temperature of 1000° Celsius.
It orbits around the star in only 1.3 days — the equivalent of Earth's orbit around the Sun of one year.
It is the first exoplanet of its kind to have been found in the Neptunian Desert, researchers said. The Neptunian Desert is the region close to stars where no Neptune-sized planets are found.
This area receives strong irradiation from the star, meaning the planets do not retain their gaseous atmosphere as they evaporate leaving just a rocky core.
However NGTS-4b still has its atmosphere of gas. Researchers believe the planet may have moved into the Neptunian Desert recently, in the last one million years, or it was very big and the atmosphere is still evaporating.
May 25, 2019
SpaceX Launches 60 Starlink Satellites
SpaceX took a giant leap towards making global Internet coverage a reality as its fifth Falcon 9 rocket of the year took flight, sending 60 Internet-beaming Starlink satellites into space.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida`s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, following several delays: first a 24-hour delay due to high upper-level winds on May 15, and then a week-long delay so SpaceX could give the onboard satellites a software upgrade.
Following the successful launch, the rocket`s first stage gently touched down on a floating platform at sea, marking the company`s 40th booster recovery.
It was the third flight for this particular booster, marking just the second time SpaceX has flown a Falcon 9 first stage more than twice.
May 23, 2019
Country's Largest Liquid Hydrogen Tank
ISRO Chairman K. Sivan flagged off the country's largest liquid hydrogen storage tank at Sri City.
VRV Asia Pacific manufactured the storage tank with a Liquid Nitrogen shield in a collaborative effort with the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The tank can store 120 kilolitres of liquid hydrogen, which is used as fuel for satellite launch vehicles.