General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - December 2018

Dec 2018

Apr 11, 2022

Axiom-1: First All-private Crew Launches to Space Station

Four astronauts left Earth on the first all-private mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The four men are called the Axiom-1 crew.
A former US space agency (Nasa) astronaut, Michael López-Alegría, is commanding the mission. Flying alongside him are US real estate entrepreneur and aerobatic pilot Larry Connor; Israeli investor and philanthropist Eytan Stibbe; and Canadian entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Mark Pathy.
This mission was launched by SpaceX.

Apr 09, 2022

Amazon Signs Contract with Three Firms to Launch its Satellite Internet

The tech firm secured up to 83 launches over a five-year period, which the company claims is the greatest commercial launch vehicle procurement in history. Arianespace, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have agreed to deploy the majority of Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites, which aim to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband to a wide variety of clients around the world.
The tech firm has secured up to 83 launches over a five-year period, which the company claims is the greatest commercial launch vehicle procurement in history.
The contracts call for 18 launches on Arianespace's Ariane 6 rockets, 12 launches on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin's New Glenn, with options for up to 15 more launches, and 38 flights on ULA's newest heavy-lift launch vehicle, the Vulcan Centaur.
The announcement brings Amazon's satellite internet constellation one step closer to reality, as Elon Musk's SpaceX continues to launch more Starlink satellites, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites launched to about 2300, and increasing Starlink's global subscriber base to about 2.5 lakh.

Apr 08, 2022

Near Identical Twin of Jupiter Planet

Astronomers discovered a planet that is a near-identical twin of Jupiter. The newly discovered twin of Jupiter is also located at a similar distance from its star as the distance between Jupiter and the Sun.
The newly discovered planet was dubbed K2-2016-BLG-0005Lb.
This exoplanet was discovered by an international astrophysicist's team using data obtained that was obtained by NASA's Kepler space telescope.
The newly discovered planet is located 17,000 light-years away from Earth.
This newly discovered identical twin of Jupiter has a mass similar to Jupiter; also, its position from its respective Sun is similar to that of Jupiter as from the sun. This is the first time Einstein's microlensing method has been used by the Kepler Telescope to discover a planet.

Apr 06, 2022

Google Maps to Roll out Toll Prices for Indian Users, Move to Help People

Google is rolling out toll prices on Maps in India, the US, Japan and Indonesia that will help users make the choice between toll roads and regular roads.
With this new update, users can now find the estimated toll price to their destination even before the trip starts with toll pricing information from local tolling authorities.
Toll prices will be rolling out on Android and iOS this month for nearly 2,000 toll roads in India, the US, Japan and Indonesia -- with more countries coming soon. In addition, Google has also released new updates for iOS users to make Google Maps easier to use on an Apple Watch or iPhone. In addition, Apple Watch users will soon be able to get directions on Google Maps directly from their Watch.

ISRO to Send Team to Investigate Objects that Fell from Sky in Maharashtra

The India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will send a team of its experts to Pawanpur village, in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra to investigate what is believed to be remnants of a disintegrated Chinese rocket.
"Inputs from several sources are received on the mysterious flashing light seen in the sky during evening hours on April 3...It is reported that a metal ring and a cylinder-like object was found in an open field in Pawanpur village. As requested by the district administration, a team of scientists form ISRO is visiting Pawanpur for inspection and further scientific enquiry," read a post from ISRO's Facebook page.
Space debris or remnants of satellites, rockets, and other objects in space crashing into the earth are a common occurrence but it is relatively rare for such objects to fall onto land.

Apr 05, 2022

NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 Mission

SpaceX and NASA are gearing up to launch astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Commercial Crew Program of NASA. This will be the fourth crew rotation mission and will be carrying an international crew consisting of four astronauts on a science expedition to the ISS.
This mission would be launched on 20th April from NASA's Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39A.
The Kennedy Space Center is located in Florida.
The crew that would be sent aboard the ISS would be spending several months conducting various maintenance and science aboard the orbiting space station.
The astronauts would be returning to Earth in the fall of 2022.
The crew would be riding on a new Crew Dragon spacecraft and would be launched on a Falcon 9 booster.
As a tradition of naming a new capsule by the first riding astronauts, the crew chose the name "Freedom" to celebrate the fundamental human right.
The crew consists of NASA astronauts Bob Hines, Kjell Lindgren, and Jessica Watkins, along with Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency. The commander of the Crew-4 mission and the Crew Dragon spacecraft is Lindgren.

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