General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Aug 08, 2022

Satellites No Longer Usable after Deviation: ISRO

As per the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the satellites on board its maiden Small Satellite Launch Vehicle "are no longer usable" after the SSLV-D1 placed them on an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one.
The space agency said that a committee would analyse and make recommendations into today's episode and with the implementation of those recommendations ISRO will come back soon with SSLV-D2. SSLV-D1 placed the satellites into 356 km x 76 km elliptical orbit instead of 356 km circular orbit.
Unlike ISRO's trusted workhorse — Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) — the SSLV can carry payloads weighing up to 500 kg and deploy satellites into a 500 km low earth orbit.

China Successfully Launches Pilot Reusable Spacecraft

China successfully launched a pilot reusable spacecraft with its Long March-2F carrier rocket.
The unidentified spacecraft, which was launched from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, would return to a planned landing site after operating in the orbit for some time to provide technical validations for reuses.
China said that it made a big step towards developing reusable space transportation technology as it launched a spacecraft which returned to Earth on the same day after flying to the edge of the atmosphere in July.

Aug 07, 2022

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V Rocket Launched with US Space Force Satellite

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Atlas V rocket with the sixth and final Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO 6) spacecraft for the United States Space Force's Space Systems Command. The ULA is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The rocket was launched from the Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
SBIRS is an early missile warning system that will be the successor to the Defense Support Program, whose first satellite launch took place in the 1950s. SBIRS will consist of a constellation of three satellites in geosynchronous orbit and two other classified satellites on highly elliptical orbits around the poles.

Aug 06, 2022

South Korea Launches first Moon Mission on SpaceX Rocket

South Korea joined the stampede to the moon with the launch of a lunar orbiter that will scout out future landing spots. The satellite launched by SpaceX is taking a long, roundabout path to conserve fuel and will arrive in December 2022. If successful, it will join spacecraft from the US and India already operating around the moon, and a Chinese rover exploring the moon's far side.
Danuri, which is Korean for "enjoy the moon", is carrying six science instruments, including a camera for NASA. It's designed to peer into the permanently shadowed, ice-filled craters at the lunar poles.

First Synthetic Mouse Embryos Created with no Sperm, Eggs or Womb

For the first time, scientists created mouse embryos in the lab without using any eggs or sperm and watched them grow outside the womb. To achieve this feat, the researchers used only stem cells and a spinning device filled with shiny glass vials.
This is an important landmark in the understanding of how embryos build themselves.
The breakthrough experiment took place in a specially designed bioreactor that serves as an artificial womb for developing embryos. Within the device, embryos float in small beakers of nutrient-filled solution, and the beakers are all locked into a spinning cylinder that keeps them in constant motion.

Aug 05, 2022

AzaadiSAT: ISRO's Smallest Rocket in Space

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched its smallest commercial rocket 'Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)' carrying 'AzaadiSAT'. It was launched, to unfurl the Tricolour in space, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
This spacecraft was launched as, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced on August 15, 2018, to unfurl the Tricolour in Space to celebrate India's 75th year of Independence.
To mark India's celebrations of 'Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', SSLV will carry a co-passenger satellite called 'AzaadiSAT'.
AzaadiSAT comprises of 75 payloads.
These payloads have been built by 750 young girl students from 75 rural government schools of India.

Aug 04, 2022

Astronomy Lab in Bihar College Enters UNESCO Heritage List

UNESCO added a 106-year-old astronomical observatory at Langat Singh College in Bihar's Muzaffarpur on its list of important endangered heritage observatories of the world—raising hopes of reviving the neglected edifice that has little to show off its glorious past.
National Commission for History of Science member and Delhi University's former modern history professor JN Sinha said his constant push to draw UNESCO's attention towards the observatory, first of its kind in eastern India, finally bore fruit.
The observatory was built in 1916 in the 123-year old college, now affiliated to Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University. A planetarium, probably the first in India, was also set up in the college in 1946. The observatory and planetarium functioned satisfactorily up to early 1970s. At present, it is lying completely dysfunctional and most of the costly machines in the observatory have either been lost or become junk.

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