NASA Unveils New Generation of Spacesuit for Humanity's Return Trip to Moon
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) unveiled a new generation of spacesuit for humanity's return trip to the Moon. The novel design of the spacesuit comes with specialist features to support astronauts as they conduct scientific experiments on the lunar surface. The prototype is said to be a better fit for female space travellers.
NASA said that it hopes to have the updated suit ready for the Artemis III mission to the Moon in 2025.
Mar 16, 2023
Active Volcano on Venus Shows it's a Living Planet
Choked by a smog of sulfuric acid and scorched by temperatures hot enough to melt lead, the surface of Venus is sure to be lifeless. For decades, researchers also thought the planet itself was dead, capped by a thick, stagnant lid of crust and unaltered by active rifts or volcanoes. But hints of volcanism have mounted, and now comes the best one yet: direct evidence for an eruption. Geologically, at least, Venus is alive.
The discovery came from NASA's Magellan spacecraft, which orbited Venus some 30 years ago and used radar to peer through the thick clouds. Images made 8 months apart show a volcano's circular mouth, or caldera, growing dramatically in a sudden collapse. On Earth, such collapses occur when magma that had supported the caldera vents or drains away, as happened during a 2018 eruption at Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.
ISRO Officials and Bhutan Government Inaugurate Ground Station of Indo-Bhutan Satellite
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman S. Somnath, Bhutan's Foreign Minister Lyonpo Tandi Dorji, Bhutan's Minister for Information and Communication Lyonpo Karma Donnen Wangdi and Ambassador of India to Bhutan Sudhakar Dalela inaugurated a Ground-Earth station for the India-Bhutan satellite in Thimphu.
The ground station of the India-Bhutan Satellite, built in Thimpu, is also known as the ISRO Nano Satellite 2 for Bhutan (INS-2B).
It was launched as a payload on ISRO's PSLV C54 rocket on November 26, 2022.
It has been jointly developed by scientists from both countries.
The satellite contains two payloads:
NanoMx multispectral optical imager: It is developed by India'sSpace Applications Centre (SAC). It will provide high-resolution images to Bhutan for its natural resources management.
Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) repeater: It is jointly developed by Department of Information Technology and Telecom (DITT) Bhutan and ISRO's UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) to serve the amateur radio community, relaying realtime information about the region.
Mar 15, 2023
Honeywell International Names Vimal Kapur as CEO
Diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc named Vimal Kapur as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He would succeed Darius Adamczyk on June 1.
Kapur, currently Honeywell's president and chief operating officer, had previously headed its building technologies unit.
Adamczyk, who became the company's CEO in 2017, will continue to serve as its executive chairman.
NASA Awards Firefly Aerospace $112 Million Contract
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) picked US-based rocket builder Firefly Aerospace for an important $112 million contract. The NASA contract is for the delivery of multiple lunar payloads to the far side of the moon in 2026. It is part of NASA's efforts to put humans on the moon.
As per the Firefly Aerospace website, this is the second task the firm has won under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.
Mar 13, 2023
SpaceX 'Endurance' Crew Returns to Earth after 5-Months aboard Space Station
NASA's SpaceX Crew-5 returned to Earth after a five-month stay aboard the International Space Station.
The SpaceX "Endurance" capsule carried Koichi Wakata of Japan, Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina, and NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada.
It splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico off the west coast of Florida.
Crew-5, which launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral in early October 2022, was the fifth mission in space for Wakata and the first for Cassada, Kikina and Mann -- who also became the first Native American woman in space.
Mar 11, 2023
ISRO Receives Indo-US Jointly Developed NISAR Satellite
The US Air Force handed over NISAR, an earth observation satellite jointly developed by NASA and ISRO, to the Indian space agency.
The satellite is an outcome of a collaboration between the American space agency NASA and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
NISAR will be used by ISRO for a variety of purposes including agricultural mapping, and landslide-prone areas.
The satellite is expected to be launched in 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, into a near-polar orbit.