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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - May 2015

May 2015

May 22, 2019

Chandrayaan 2 Launch Date

India' ambitious moon mission Chandrayaan 2 will be launched after July 9, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman Dr. K Sivan said of the mission that missed an earlier launch window in January.
Chandrayaan 2 is going to be a landmark mission for India which will be launched between July 9 and 16. Chandrayan 2 is the most challenging mission undertaken by ISRO. It will land at a place where nobody else has landed before.
The Chandrayaan-2, which is set to cost about Rs 800 crore, will involve unloading of a rover to study the Moon.

ISRO Launches Radar Imaging Satellite

India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket carrying radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2B lifted off from the first launch pad of the rocket port.
About 15 minutes into the flight the rocket ejected the 615 kg RISAT-2B into about 555-km orbit.
According to the ISRO, the RISAT-2B with a life span of five years will be used for agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
The satellite will also be used for surveillance purposes while the ISRO is silent on this aspect.
There is increased demand for satellites from strategic sectors. About six/seven satellites are planned to be built.
The PSLV is a four-stage engine expendable rocket with alternating solid and liquid fuel.
The ISRO will also be launching another radar imaging satellite RISAT-2BR1 and two more defence satellites sometime in July or August with its new rocket Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV).

May 21, 2019

India adopts New Definition for Kilogram

India, along with the rest of the world, adopted new definitions for four base units, the kilogram, kelvin, mole and ampere, which were released by scientists at the General Conference on Weights and Measures in France in November 2018.
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's National Physical Laboratory has sent the new definitions to the ministry of human resource development for the engineering course syllabus and to the National Council of Educational Research and Training for adoption in schools.
The new units were adopted on the occasion of World Metrology Day.

Google Cuts Android Support to Huawei

Hundreds of millions of smartphone users will be affected by Google's decision to sever its Android operating system ties with Chinese handset maker Huawei.
The decision, in the midst of a United States trade war with China, means that Huawei users will start losing access to Google's proprietary services such as Gmail and Maps, and be shut out of future upgrades to Android on their phones.
The move by the California internet giant on the software front was compounded by news that US chipmakers have stopped supplying Huawei, hitting the hardware of its phones.

May 17, 2019

SpaceX Postpones Starlink Satellite Launch

A SpaceX launch already scrubbed once due to inclement weather was postponed again nearly 24 hours later, this time for about a week, in order to update satellite software and triple-check everything.
The delayed mission is designed to carry into low-Earth orbit an initial batch of 60 satellites for Musk`s new Starlink global internet service, a venture intended to generate cash for the rest of the billionaire entrepreneur`s space exploration ambitions.

May 16, 2019

Solar Cell with Bacteria at its Core

A team led by an IndoCanadian scientist is giving Escherichia or E coli bacteria, commonly associated with stomach ailments, an image makeover: placing them at the core of a new system for producing solar power.
Developed by the team of Vikramaditya Yadav at the chemical and biological engineering department of University of British Columbia, the biogenic solar cells, called so as they comprise living organisms, can function in low light conditions.
A prototype for the cells generated a current stronger than any previously recorded from such a device, and worked as efficiently in dim light as in bright light.

Chandrayaan-2 will carry Nasa payload

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that India's second lunar mission will carry 13 Indian payloads and one from US space agency Nasa.
Isro is looking to launch Chandrayaan-2 between July 9 and July 16, with the Moon landing scheduled for September 6.

May 11, 2019

Chandrayaan-2 Will Carry 14 Payloads

According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-2, the lunar lander mission planned to be launched during July 9-16, will have 14 Indian payloads or study devices.
The 3,800-kg spacecraft includes an orbiter which will circle the moon at 100 km; a five-legged lander called Vikram that will descend on the moon on or around September 6; and a robotic rover, Pragyan, that will probe the lunar terrain around it.
ISRO has chosen a landing area at the hitherto unexplored lunar south pole, making it the first agency to touch down at the south pole if it succeeds in its first landing attempt.
Chandrayaan-2 will be India's second outing to the moon. ISRO will send the mission on its heavy lift booster, the MkIII, from Sriharikota.

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