General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - May 2019

May 2019

Oct 30, 2020

SpaceX Replaces 2 Rocket engines ahead of next Crewed Mission

Elon Musk-run SpaceX is replacing two engines on its Falcon 9 rocket which is scheduled to launch four space travelers to the International Space Station on November 14.
The requirement of replacing the engines became apparent after an investigation into the aberrant behaviour of the Falcon 9 rocket observed during a recent non-NASA mission launch attempt.
The non-NASA mission referred to the launch attempt of a GPS satellite for the US Space Force earlier this month, which was aborted automatically moments before the lit off.
This led NASA and SpaceX to delay the launch of Crew-1 mission, which is also scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket -- which was originally scheduled for launch on October 31.

Oct 29, 2020

Europe to Send Modules, Astronauts to NASA Moon Station

The European Space Agency agreed to provide several modules for NASA's planned outpost around the moon, in return for a chance to send European astronauts to the lunar orbiter.
ESA's director-general, Jan Woerner, signed a deal with NASA chief Jim Bridenstine to provide essential elements for the mini space station, known as Artemis Gateway.
As per ESA, this includes the main habitat for astronauts visiting the lunar outpost, and a module that provides communications and refueling capability along with a window for the crew to observe the moon.
The agency will receive three flight opportunities for European astronauts to travel to and work on the Gateway as part of the agreement.
NASA aims to use the Gateway as a staging post for missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

NASA and ISRO to Launch NISAR Satellite

India and US held the two plus two dialogue. During the meet the country's decided to share space situational awareness information. This will catalyse efforts in creating safe and sustainable space environment
A joint statement issued after the dialogue read that the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar called the NISAR is to be launched by 2022.
The space agencies of the countries signed an agreement to conduct a joint NISAR mission. The mission will develop and launch synthetic aperture radar. The radar will be capable of transmitting dual frequency signals and is to be carried by an Earth observation satellite.
NISAR mission is the first radar imaging satellite to use dual-frequency. The dual frequency of the satellite is to be used for remote sensing and understand the natural processes on the earth.
Based on the agreement NASA is to provide the band synthetic aperture radar. ISRO is to provide S band synthetic aperture radar, satellite bus, launch vehicles and associated launch services.
The mission will also study about evolution and state of the earth crust.

Oct 28, 2020

Researchers Develop a Low-cost Method to Produce Anti-ageing Compounds

The researchers from IIT Guwahati developed a low-cost method to produce anti-ageing compounds. The compound has been developed from a wide range of agricultural resources such as pulses, tea, berries, orange peels, parsley, onion and sea buckthorn.
The product does not use organic solvents as done by the other commercial industry. This is the main reason for the low cost of the anti-ageing product.
The scientists used size-based pressure driven membrane separation process. The extracts of the plants or fruits are passed through fabricated membranes.
These membranes are capable of separating selected flavonoids. The retentive part is then fridge dried to get a powdered product. A stimuli responsive smart membrane for selective separation of target compound has also been synthesised.

Oct 27, 2020

NASA Takes Chandrayan's Water Discovery a Step Higher

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA has found the presence of water on the sun lit surface of the Moon. The presence of water was found by the spacecraft SOFIA. Earlier, ISRO Chandrayaan 1 confirmed the presence of water in the shadowed places of moon. Thus, NASA has taken the discovery of water on moon by India to a step forward.
SOFIA is Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy. The spacecraft has found that water is distributed across the lunar surface.
SOFIA is a joint project of Germany and United States. It helps astronomers to study about the solar system that are not possible with ground telescopes.

Oct 25, 2020

OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Collects Significant Amount of Asteroid Bennu

Two days after touching down on asteroid Bennu, NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission team HAS received images that confirm the spacecraft has collected more than enough material to meet one of its main mission requirements – acquiring at least 2 ounces (60 grams) of the asteroid's surface material.
The spacecraft captured images of the sample collector head as it moved through several different positions. In reviewing these images, the OSIRIS-REx team noticed both that the head appeared to be full of asteroid particles, and that some of these particles appeared to be escaping slowly from the sample collector, called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head.

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