Synopsis: About NASA’s Artemis programme, various consequences of India joining the programme and how India needs to tackle all this. Introduction On September 7, 2019, India’s Chandrayaan-2 Moon Lander crashed in a cloud of lunar dust no human would witness. It had experienced a “hard landing” on a desolate patch of the lunar surface. It shows the difficulties of the operation and ‘optimism… Continue reading World Is Entering A New Moon Age
Tag: space technology
India and the geopolitics of the moon
Synopsis: Delhi should take a hard look at the emerging challenges to the current space order and its interests on the moon, and develop strategies to pursue them through a national lunar mission. Introduction Space-faring powers are seeking routine access to the moon. Moreover, their attention has now turned to what is called the cis-lunar… Continue reading India and the geopolitics of the moon
Trans- Himalayan region becoming one of the promising astronomical sites globally
What is the news? A recent study said that the Indian Astronomical Observatory (IAO) located at Hanle near Leh in Ladakh is becoming one of the promising observatory sites globally. This is due to its advantages of more clear nights, minimal light pollution, background aerosol concentration, extremely dry atmospheric condition, and uninterrupted by monsoon. About… Continue reading Trans- Himalayan region becoming one of the promising astronomical sites globally
Landsat 9: NASA’s ‘new eye in the sky’ that will help study climate change
What is the news? Recently, a NASA satellite was successfully launched the earth monitoring satellite, Landsat 9. It is a joint mission of NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The first Landsat satellite was launched in 1972. Since then, Landsat satellites have collected images of our planet and helped understand how land usage has changed over the… Continue reading Landsat 9: NASA’s ‘new eye in the sky’ that will help study climate change
The growing strategic importance of outer space
Synopsis: India is looking to bolster outer space cooperation with US and other QUAD members. Many reforms have also been initiated towards this direction. But, the growing strategic salience of outer space demands substantive national policy action in India. Introduction Technological progress in the last two decades has also “produced” new domains for human activity.… Continue reading The growing strategic importance of outer space
Explained: What is dark energy, and have scientists finally detected it?
What is the news? Last week, an international team of researchers made the first putative direct detection of dark energy. What is XENON1T experiment? The XENON1T experiment is the world’s most sensitive dark matter experiment and was operated deep underground at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. In this experiment scientists noticed certain unexpected results. As per them, dark… Continue reading Explained: What is dark energy, and have scientists finally detected it?
What samples brought back by China mission tell us about Moon
What is the News? China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission has delivered to Earth nearly 2 kg of rocky fragments and dust from the Moon. What is the Chang’e-5 lunar mission? Chang’e 5 lunar mission is the Chinese National Space Administration’s (CNSA) mission to send a robotic spacecraft to the moon to collect samples and return them… Continue reading What samples brought back by China mission tell us about Moon
Scientists peek into the Sun by estimating magnetic fields using radio observations
What is the News? Indian scientists along with international collaborators have measured the magnetic field of an eruption from the Sun’s atmosphere offering a rare peek to the interior of the Sun. About the Study Scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) studied the weak thermal radio emission associated with the erupted plasma for… Continue reading Scientists peek into the Sun by estimating magnetic fields using radio observations
What Chandrayaan-2 has sent
Synopsis: The failure of Chandrayaan-2 to make a soft-landing on the lunar surface had led to much disappointment. However, Orbiter part of the mission has gathered a wealth of new information. Introduction Due to crash landing, ISRO missed the opportunity to demonstrate soft-landing in outer space and gather more local information. The lander Vikram and rover… Continue reading What Chandrayaan-2 has sent
What is Inspiration4, SpaceX’s first all-civilian space mission?
What is the News? SpaceX has announced that it is planning to launch the Inspiration4 mission by September 15. About Inspiration4 mission: Inspiration4 is a spaceflight planned for four people aboard the SpaceX Resilience capsule. The three-day flight will be the first human spaceflight to orbit Earth with exclusively private citizens on board. The flight… Continue reading What is Inspiration4, SpaceX’s first all-civilian space mission?
