General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - October 2018

Oct 2018

Oct 11, 2019

First Spacecraft that can Service Satellites to Extend their Life Launched

Up until now, commercial satellites have essentially been disposable. Even the massive, multi-ton ones that can have service lives spanning a decade or more eventually just become so much space trash once they're out of fuel, or they experience some kind of terminal mechanical failure.
A new spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman and launched aboard a Russian Soyuz (via Space.com) could change all that.
The MEV-1, as it's known, is a satellite service spacecraft, which has the specific mission of meeting up with Intelsat 901 in orbit and lending it use of its orientation thrusters to put it back into an ideal target orbit — thus extending the useful life of the 18-year-old satellite by as many as five years.
Once it has succeeded in putting Intelsat 901 back on track, it's very possible the MEV-1 could do the same thing for yet another orbital satellite running low on its own propellant supply.

Oct 10, 2019

IT Ministry partners Google on 'Build for Digital India'

Tech giant Google signed a statement of intent with the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) for rolling out 'Build for Digital India' programme.
The programme will offer a platform to engineering students to develop market-ready, technology-based solutions that address key social problems.

GEMINI System To Aid Fishermen

To avoid communication blackouts that led to 20 fishermen going missing in the aftermath of Cyclone Okchi in 2017, a slew of government departments, research agencies and private companies have developed GEMINI, a portable receiver linked to ISRO-satellites, that is "fail-proof" and warn fishermen of danger.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a Hyderabad institute collaborated with Accord, a private company, to develop a box-shaped receiver that has an antenna and in-built battery that can last three to four days, according to a brochure describing the device.
GEMINI works on GAGAN, developed by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India and is an India-made global positioning system and relies on the positioning system by ISRO's GSAT satellites.

IIT Madras Students Develop An 'Eye In The Sky' For Disaster

Indian Institute of Technology-Madras students have developed an 'Eye in the Sky - Disaster Management and Humanitarian Aid Services'.
A team from Centre For Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras, is building drones enabled with Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision to develop an end-to-end solution to identify accurate and critical information on people trapped in disaster-hit areas and communicate them to relief task force.
The 'Eye in the Sky' Team won the finals of Indian Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP 2.0) University Challenge held at IIT- Bombay.
They were among 'Top 18 Innovative Startups' from all over the nation and will receive ₹10 lakh-worth equity-less funding.
The team has also received 'Microsoft AI For Earth' Grant given to only 390 projects globally.

Russian Telescope Aboard ISS Captures Short Flashes In Earth's Atmosphere

An ultra-violet telescope created by Russia with international participation to study short flashes in Earth's atmosphere has begun its work on the International Space Station (ISS).
It has already collected its first data. The telescope was delivered to the International Space Station aboard the unmanned Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft back in August, 2019.

Oct 09, 2019

Rwanda Launches 'First Made-In-Africa' Smartphones

Rwanda has opened Africa's first smartphone manufacturing plant in the capital, Kigali, in an event attended by President Paul Kagame.
Manufactured by technology company Mara Group - the Mara X and Mara Z smartphones - will use Google's Android operating system and cost 175,750 Rwandan francs ($190; £155) and 120,250 Rwandan francs ($130;£106) respectively.

Oct 08, 2019

Astronauts Complete First Spacewalk In Series To Upgrade Station Batteries

Two NASA astronauts worked to replace batteries outside of the International Space Station, completing the first in a series of five planned spacewalks devoted to upgrading the orbiting laboratory's power system.
Continuing a process that began with an initial set of battery replacements in January 2017, Koch and Morgan ventured to the far left, or port, side of the space station's backbone truss to work on some of the outpost's older power storage units.

Oct 07, 2019

ISRO To Celebrate World Space Week In Seven Academic Institutions In Karnataka

As a part of World Space Week program, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined hands with seven academic institutions across Karnataka to spread information and knowledge about the benefits of space science and technologies to the student community.
The programme will start on 4 October and will continue till 10 October, 2019.
The seven institutions include Poornaprajna PU College at Adamar, SJM Institute of Technology at Chitradurga, Konkan Education Trust High School at Kumta, RV College of Engineering at Bengaluru, Tontadarya College of Engineering at Gadag, Sri Sai Vidyaniketan Residential School at Shahpur and Siddaganga Institute of Technology at Tumkur.

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