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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - August 2015

Aug 2015

Jan 23, 2020

ISRO Unveils Female Humanoid for Gaganyaan Mission

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) unveiled the female humanoid to be placed in the first unmanned mission under the Gaganyaan mission. Gaganyaan is India's first human space mission.
Named Vyommitra, the robot is a prototype of humanoid and will go as a trial before the Gaganyaan goes up with the astronauts. 'Vyommitra' will simulate most of the human body functions and report back to ISRO.

Scientists Date World's Oldest Meteor Crater

According to a new research, a crater in western Australia was formed by a meteor strike more than 2.2 billion years ago and is the world's oldest known impact site. The study marks the first time that the Yarrabubba crater has been precisely dated, at 2.229 billion years old, and means it is 200 million years older than any similar site known on Earth. The revelation also raises the intriguing possibility that the massive impact could have significantly altered the Earth's climate, helping end a period of global deep freeze.

Jan 22, 2020

Qualcomm Phones to Use ISRO Satellite Signals

New smartphones in India running on Qualcomm chipsets will be able to use signals from ISRO'S satellites for navigation. The three new chipsets — Snapdragon 720G, 662, and 460 — will be the first to support the Indian NavIC.
NavIC (or Navigation with Indian Constellation) is a seven-satellite regional navigation system developed by ISRO that will provide positioning services over India and countries up to 1,500 km around it.
These chipsets were developed by Qualcomm, the US-based multinational company, in consultation with the space agency.

Jan 21, 2020

Scientists' brains shrank after a long stay in Antarctica

A portion of the brains of people living at an Antarctic research station shrank during a long stay, a small study finds. Social isolation and the unchanging white landscape may be to blame.
"It's very exciting to see the white desert at the beginning," says Alexander Stahn. A physiologist, he began the research while working in Berlin, Germany. "But then it's always the same."
A crew of eight scientists and a cook lived and worked at the German research station Neumayer III for 14 months. Although joined by other scientists during the summer, the crew alone endured the long darkness of polar winter. Temperatures can plummet as low as –50° Celsius (–58° Fahrenheit). Such harsh conditions make it impossible for people to leave.
This creates a lot of isolation. That and the static environment create the closest thing on Earth to what a space explorer might experience, says Stahn. He now works at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Stahn wants to understand how long-term travel in space might affect the brain.

Jan 20, 2020

Iran Preparing for Satellite Launch

Iran said that two newly constructed satellites have passed pre-launch tests and will be transported to the nation's space center for eventual launch.
Iran has not said when it will launch the satellites, but often coordinates its launches with national holidays.
As per Iran's state-run media, the 90-kilogram (200-pound) Zafar satellites each have four high-resolution color cameras and will monitor and transmit data on natural resources as well as agricultural and environmental developments.
Iran said that its satellite program, like its nuclear activities, is aimed at scientific research and other civilian applications. The U.S. and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles.

SpaceX Performs Successful In-flight Abort Test

Elon Musk's SpaceX simulated a successful emergency landing in a dramatic test of a crucial abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule, laying the foundation for its mission to fly NASA astronauts for the first time.
In a key trial for carrying humans, SpaceX was also testing its rescue teams' response after splash down. They scrambled toward Crew Dragon with the US Air Force's Detachment 3 emergency rescue teams in tow - a vital part of the test to practice a rescue mission to retrieve astronauts from the capsule.
The test is crucial to qualify the capsule to fly humans to the International Space Station, something NASA expects to come as soon as mid-2020. It follows years of development and delays as the US has sought to revive its human spaceflight program through private partnerships.

Jan 18, 2020

SpaceX to Practise Emergency Crew Capsule Escape

America aims to take another step towards being able to send its own astronauts into orbit again.
California's SpaceX company will practise what to do in the event that one of its rockets carrying a human crew fails shortly after lift-off.
If the test is completed successfully, it should clear the way for regular astronaut launches later this year.
The US has not launched from its own soil since the retirement of the space shuttles nine years ago.
It has been riding the Russian Soyuz system instead.
The US space agency (Nasa) has contracted both SpaceX and the aerospace giant Boeing to come up with home-grown alternatives.
SpaceX - with its Falcon rocket and Dragon capsule - is now in the final stages of development.
The in-flight abort manoeuvre is really the last major obstacle the firm faces before receiving the full certification it needs to begin operational astronaut taxi services.

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