UAE's 'Hope' Probe to be First in Trio of Mars Missions
The first Arab space mission, the UAE's "Hope" probe, is expected to reach Mars' orbit, making it the first of three spacecraft to arrive at the Red Planet.
The United Arab Emirates, China and the United States all launched projects to Mars last July, taking advantage of a period when the Earth and Mars are nearest.
If successful, the wealthy Gulf state will become the fifth nation to ever reach Mars -- a venture timed to mark the 50th anniversary of the unification of the UAE -- with the China mission due to become the sixth the following day.
"Hope", known as "Al-Amal" in Arabic, will orbit the planet for at least one Martian year, or 687 days, while the Tianwen-1 from China and the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover from the US will both land on Mars' surface.
World's Largest Radio Telescope- Square Kilometre Array
An intergovernmental organisation called the SKA Observatory was launched in order to give a push to radio astronomy. The launch came after the SKAO Council held its first meeting, and it aims to build and operate two radio telescope networks, which would be the largest and most complex ones ever conceived.
With these two networks, the intergovernmental organisation hopes to answer some fundamental questions regarding the universe. The two networks will be based in South Africa and Australia.
Under the organisation, two radio telescope networks would be set up, and they would not be a single telescope but an array of antennas and dishes of radio telescopes.
The network that would be set up in South Africa would consist of as many as 197 dishes having a diameter of 15 metres each, and these would be located in the Karoo region. Of these dishes, 64 already exist and are being operated by SARAO or the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO).
Feb 07, 2021
China Releases Space Probe's First Image of Mars
China's maiden space exploration mission to Mars has captured its first image of the red planet, some six months after the probe left Earth.
The uncrewed Tianwen-1 took the picture at a distance of around 2.2 million km (1.4 million miles) from Mars, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), which supplied a black-and-white image.
The Tianwen-1 was launched in July from China's southern Hainan Island and expected to reach the orbit of Mars this month. In May, it will try to land in Utopia Planitia, a plain in the northern hemisphere, and deploy a rover to explore for 90 days.
If successful, the Tianwen-1 will make China the first country to orbit, land and deploy a rover in its inaugural mission to Mars, further boosting China's space credentials after it last year became the first nation to bring back samples from the moon since the 1970s.
Feb 06, 2021
ISRO to Launch iBrazilian, Indian Startup Satellite in First Mission of 2021
In its first mission in 2021, India's space agency ISRO planned to launch on February 28 Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 and three Indian payloads, including one built by a home-grown start-up.
The satellites are slated to be launched onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-51 at 10.28 am from the Sriharikota spaceport, over 100 km from Chennai.
Amazonia-1, reportedly the first earth observation satellite entirely developed by Brazil, is the primary payload.
Feb 05, 2021
Lithium Deposits Found in Karnataka
The Central Government has confirmed in a written reply to Lok Sabha about the presence of 1600 tonnes of lithium deposits in Mandya district of Karnataka. However, the significance and the quantity of the lithium in the region can only be confirmed after exploring the entire area. Further, commercial exploitation for the deposits can start only after the technical, social and economic feasibility studies are done.
Survey was done by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD).
AMD is a constituent unit under the Department of Atomic Energy.
Japan Scientists Study Source of High Heat on Asteroid
Japanese space experts said they are examining soil samples brought back from a distant asteroid in an attempt to find the source of heat that altered the celestial body, in their search for clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth.
A preliminary examination of 5.4-gram soil, which the Hayabusa2 spacecraft brought in December, has already been done.
Feb 04, 2021
SatSure Plans Remote Sensing Satellite Fleet
SatSure is planning to launch a fleet of remote sensing microsatellites from 2022 to meet the growing need of high-resolution satellite imagery across aviation, banking, insurance and transportation sectors. The satellites will be powered by hybrid-propulsion systems of Bellatrix Aerospace, a startup incubated at the Indian Institute of Science.
SatSure will be the second Indian firm after Bengaluru-based Pixxel to look at its own earth observation satellite fleet. Pixxel's first satellite - Anand is expected to be launched on the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in early 2021.
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