Biggest Challenge Coming up for Mangalyaan in June '15!
Communications with Mangalyaan to get blocked for 15 days in June
Mars Image sent by Mangalyaan
India's Mangalyaan mission will face a crucial period in June when the sun will block out all communications with the ground for 15 days, former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief Dr K Radhakrishnan has said. Dr Radhakrishnan made the remarks at the Indian Science Congress and said,
"If we could regain control over the craft after that period, that would be one more major achievement."
According to a
Times of India report, that this will be longest break in communication with Mangalyaan, since the Mars Orbiter was launched in November 2013. During the blackout phase the orbiter will be
"in an autonomous mode."
The
TOI report quoted MoM project director Subbiah Arunan as saying that the blackout would be from 8 to 22 June because the Sun will come between Earth and Mars. Arunan also said that in May 2016, the Earth would come between Mars and Sun, leading to another loss of communications for about a fortnight.
Meanwhile at the Indian Science Congress, K Radhakrishnan also spoke about how Isro's next step should be to send humans to space.
He said,
"Sending human beings to space requires ability to provide the environment and life support system for the crew, minimising the failure rate and developing an escape system, etc. ISRO is working on several such things."
Radhakrishnan also lauded the Mars mission and pointed out that "the mission was completed in a record time of 4 years 2 months and the spacecraft was tested in a very short span of 18 months."
He said that,
"ISRO expected it to have a lifespan of 6 months. It has already completed 100 days of existence in the Mars orbit and is expected to last at least 6 more months."
On findings from the mission he said it was "too early to speak" on the issue but added that "the data being received from the craft is of very good quality."
India's Mangalyaan mission which cost around $74 million and is one of the cheapest space missions, successfully entered the Red planet's orbit last year in September. The mission made India the first nation to successfully launch a Mars mission in its very first attempt. It was also named
TIME magazine's best invention for the year 2014.
Mangalyaan has five instruments aboard: a camera, two spectrometers, a radiometer and a photometer. It aims to understand the process by which water was lost on Mars, measure methane levels in the Martian atmosphere, map the surface, composition and mineralogy of Mars and take images of the Martian surface.
Source:-
Communications with Mangalyaan to get blocked for 15 days in June - Firstpost
Tests over, India set to make the ‘iris’ of biggest telescope ever
Sometime in 2023, a 30-metre man-made "eye" will open atop the Hawaiian volcanic dome of Mauna Kea in search of life beyond the solar system. And India would have contributed its "iris".
Barely a month after signing in as a full partner in the $1.4 billion Thirty-Metre Telescope (TMT) project jointly developed by five nations, India is all set to make sensors and actuators that will keep the huge mirror of the biggest telescope in place.
"We have completed the tests. We are ready," said Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) scientist B Eswar Reddy. IIA, Aryabhatta Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), Nainital and Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) constitute the Indian arm of the consortium that also comprises labs from Canada, the US, China and Japan.
Edge sensors and actuators are crucial components of the telescope as the huge mirror is not a single piece, but a composite of 492 hexagonal segments. Each segment is controlled by three activators and two edge sensors along each inter-segment gap to ensure accurate optical images.
Eswar told the 102nd Indian Science Congress that India plays a pivotal role in setting up the telescope with a resolution 12 times better than that of the Hubble Space Telescope.
"India will be involved in polishing the primary mirror and setting up its control system, besides developing electronics, edge sensors and actuators," Reddy said.
READ ALSO: India, 4 other nations to build world's biggest telescope
Stars in Southern Hemisphere night sky, looking towards centre of Milky Way. The centre of our galaxy (Milky Way) lies behind the dark dust clouds next to the lightest part of the Milky Way. (Getty Images photo)
The US will make the primary mirror segments, while China comes up with the tertiary mirror. Canada will put in place the dome and Japan the telescope structure.
TMT will strengthen the perennial search for intelligent life elsewhere, as it provides direct imaging of planetary systems. It will also help astronomers study planetary atmospheres, their origin and development.
While collaboration replaces competition as the mantra of astronomy and space science, India is a sought after partner. On top of the cosmic ventures, along with TMT, is the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a next-generation radio telescope project in which India leads one of the nine packages.
(From right) The Nasa Infrared Telescope Facility, Keck I, Keck II, and Subaru Telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatories, Mount Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The world's biggest telescope TMT will be built here. (Getty Images photo)
SKA will be 30 times more powerful than the best radio astronomy facility that exists today. Besides looking for extraterrestrial life, SKA hopes to help understand dark energy, sources of magnetic fields and the origin of stars and galaxies.
The Subaru Telescope at Mount Mauna Kea. (Getty Images photo)
"India is leading the work package involving the telescope's manager, which will effectively act as the telescope's brain or central nervous system," says Professor Yashwant Gupta, dean of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) located near Pune. GMRT has been designed and built by NCRA, a national centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Source:-
Tests over, India set to make the ‘iris’ of biggest telescope ever - The Times of India
