General Awareness

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY - June 2019

Jun 2019

Sep 10, 2020

US Spacecraft Named after Late Astronaut Kalpana Chawla

An American commercial cargo spacecraft bound for the International Space Station has been named after fallen NASA astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the first India-born woman to enter space, for her key contributions to human spaceflight. Northrop Grumman, an American global aerospace and defence technology company, announced that its next Cygnus capsule will be named the "S.S. Kalpana Chawla", in memory of the mission specialist who died with her six crewmates aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
Northrop Grumman is proud to name the NG-14 Cygnus spacecraft after former astronaut Kalpana Chawla. It is the company's tradition to name each Cygnus after an individual who has played a pivotal role in human spaceflight.
The S. S. Kalpana Chawla capsule is scheduled to launch on the NG-14 mission atop a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on September 29.

Sep 07, 2020

Chandrayaan-3 Launch Likely in Early 2021

Minister of State for the Department of Space Jitendra Singh said that Chandrayaan-3, India's mission to Moon, would be launched in early 2021. Singh added that Chandrayaan-3 will be different from Chandrayaan-2 as the former will not have an orbiter, but will include a lander and a rover.
It may be recalled that Chandrayaan-2 was launched in September 2019 and India's premier space agency ISRO had planned to launch Chandrayaan-3 in 2020 but the plan failed to materialise due to coronavirus pandemic.

Sep 05, 2020

NASA Test-fires SLS Rocket Booster for Future Lunar Missions

In preparation of the future Artemis missions to the Moon, NASA completed a full-scale booster test for the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
NASA and Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster lead contractor, will use data from the test, successfully conducted, to evaluate the motor's performance using potential new materials and processes that can be incorporated into future boosters.
Landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon is just the beginning of NASA's Artemis Programme.
According to NASA, the SLS flight support booster firing is a crucial part of sustaining missions to the Moon. NASA's goal is to take what we learn living and working on the Moon and use it to send humans on the first missions to Mars. The SLS boosters are the largest, most powerful boosters ever built for flight.
NASA is simultaneously making progress on assembling and manufacturing the solid rocket boosters for the first three Artemis missions and looking ahead toward missions beyond the initial Moon landing.
The SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, Gateway, and human landing system are part of NASA's backbone for deep space exploration.
SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

China Launches Reusable Spacecraft

As per reports, China successfully launched a reusable experimental spacecraft whose mission details have been kept secret.
The spacecraft was launched on a Long March-2F carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China.
After a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to a predetermined landing site in China. It will test reusable technologies during its flight, providing technological support for the peaceful use of space.
Staffers and visitors to the launch site have been warned against filming the lift-off and even discussing it online.

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.

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