General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - October 2016

Oct 2016

Sep 04, 2020

Europe's Small Vega Rocket Back in Action

The European Vega rocket is back in business.
An enforced hiatus following the loss of a vehicle in July 2019 ended with the successful deployment of 53 new satellites.
The payloads were dropped off high above the Earth using a new dispenser system that will now become a regular feature on future missions.
The aim is for Vega to service a big chunk of the vibrant market now emerging for small satellites.
Operators of these spacecraft, who're often just start-ups, SMEs or university departments, cannot afford a dedicated launch and look to lower the cost by sharing a ride to orbit.
The development of the Small Spacecraft Mission Service (SSMS) dispenser used in this mission was largely funded by the European Space Agency.
The dispenser can accommodate a range of volumes and masses - from the 1 kg, 10 cm-cubed nanosatellite (or cubesat) class, all the way up to the more bulky 500 kg minisatellites.

Sep 02, 2020

Astronomers Discover One of the Farthest Star Galaxies in the Universe

Indian astronomers have discovered one of the farthest star galaxies in the universe, estimated to be located 9.3 billion light years away from Earth.
This is a landmark achievement for country's first Multi-Wavelength Space Observatory "AstroSat."
The galaxy called AUDFs01 was discovered by a team of Astronomers led by Dr. Kanak Saha from the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics(IUCAA) Pune.
The importance and uniqueness of this original discovery can be made out from the fact that it has been reported in the international journal "Nature Astronomy" published from Britain.
According to Director of Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Dr. Somak Ray Chaudhury, this discovery is a very important clue to how the dark ages of the Universe ended and there was light in the Universe.
Pertinent to mention that India's first Space Observatory AstroSat, which has made this discovery, was launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 28, 2015 during the first term of the Modi Government. It was developed by a team led by ShyamTandon, Ex-Emeritus Professor, IUCAA with the full support of ISRO.

Sep 01, 2020

New E-market Platform "Agriota" to Bridge Gap between Indian Farmers & UAE food Industry

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched Agriota, a new technology-driven agri-commodity trading and sourcing e-market platform during a launch ceremony, which was also attended by Pavan Kapoor, Ambassador of India to the UAE. The market platform aims to bridge the gap between millions of rural farmers in India and the Gulf nation's food industry.This launch followed the India-UAE Virtual Buyer Seller Meet titled "Forge a New Path in COVID-19" organised on August 20.
It has been launched by Dubai's free-zone Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) and the government of Dubai's authority on commodities trade and enterprise.
This initiative will enable Indian farmers to connect directly, bypassing intermediaries, with the entire food industry in the UAE, including food processing companies, traders and wholesalers.

Aug 31, 2020

SpaceX Postpones Launch of Satellites from Starlink Project

The launch of next batch of satellites of SpaceX's Starlink project was postponed due to inclement weather during pre-flight operations.
According to SpaceX, the next launch could take place on 1st September from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Starlink is the next-generation satellite network capable of providing Earth's inhabitants with broadband internet access, Sputnik reported.
The project's implementation began in February 2018. In total, it plans to launch about 12,000 satellites.
Another 30,000 satellites are set to be put into orbits with altitudes from 328 to 580 kilometres. SpaceX estimated the cost of the project at USD 10 billion.

Aug 29, 2020

NASA's Hubble Telescope Maps Giant Halo Around Andromeda Galaxy

In a landmark study, scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have mapped the immense envelope of gas, called a halo, surrounding the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest large galactic neighbor. Scientists were surprised to find that this tenuous, nearly invisible halo of diffuse plasma extends 1.3 million light-years from the galaxy—about halfway to our Milky Way—and as far as 2 million light-years in some directions. This means that Andromeda's halo is already bumping into the halo of our own galaxy.
They also found that the halo has a layered structure, with two main nested and distinct shells of gas. This is the most comprehensive study of a halo surrounding a galaxy.
Understanding the huge halos of gas surrounding galaxies is immensely important. This reservoir of gas contains fuel for future star formation within the galaxy, as well as outflows from events such as supernovae. It's full of clues regarding the past and future evolution of the galaxy.
A signature of this activity is the team's discovery of a large amount of heavy elements in the gaseous halo of Andromeda. Heavier elements are cooked up in the interiors of stars and then ejected into space—sometimes violently as a star dies. The halo is then contaminated with this material from stellar explosions.
The Andromeda galaxy, also known as M31, is a majestic spiral of perhaps as many as 1 trillion stars and comparable in size to our Milky Way. At a distance of 2.5 million light-years, it is so close to us that the galaxy appears as a cigar-shaped smudge of light high in the autumn sky.

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