Author: Ramkumar Sundarakalatharan

Russian resupply ship docks at International Space Station

Russian resupply ship docks at International Space Station

By | | Comments 0 Comment

An unmanned Russian supply vessel docked Sunday without trouble at the International Space Station, two days after a technical glitch forced a similar maneuver to be aborted.

Space officials said they managed to avoid the radio signal problems that forced them to abandon last week’s docking of the Progress M-06M cargo ship, launched on June 30, is carrying 2.6 tonnes of fuel, food and water for the three Russia and three US astronauts on the station.

“At 20:17 pm Moscow time (16H17 GMT), the ‘Progress M-06M’ docked at the ‘Star’ module of the ISS,” the Russian Mission Control Centre said in an Internet statement.

An attempted docking on Friday was aborted when a radio link with the ISS was lost about 25 minutes before the planned rendezvous.

Sunday’s successful docking was done automatically under the supervision of experts in Moscow and the ISS team, it said, without using the radio link.

Progress launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on June 30.

It is the 40th Russian cargo vessel to dock at the station, the centre said.

In contrast to the troubles that plagued the first rendezvous attempt, Sunday’s second try “was executed flawlessly,” the US space agency NASA said on its website.

The space ship’s failure to dock last week after flying past the ISS was notable largely because it was rare mishap in a space programme which usually strives for and achieves pinpoint accuracy.

During the mishap “in the beginning everything was normal, then the automatic (docking) mode failed, and later the station’s crew could not dock the vessel in manual mode,” a Russian space centre spokesman told the Itar-Tass news agency.

The automatic docking system also failed during the last Progress supply ship docking in May although the process was successfully carried out manually.

The ISS, which orbits 350 kilometres (220 miles) above Earth, is a sophisticated platform for scientific experiments, helping test the effects of long-term space travel on humans, a must for any trip to distant Mars.

Progress is carrying 1,918 pounds (862 kilos) of propellant, 110 pounds (50 kilos) of oxygen, 220 pounds (100 kilos) of water and 2,667 pounds (1,210 kilos) of experiment equipment, spare parts and other supplies to the station.

The rendezvous occurred 220 miles (350 kilometers) above Earth as both the ISS and resupply ship flew over the point where the borders of China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Russia intersect.

Progress is similar in appearance and design elements to the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which brings crew members to the station, serves as a lifeboat while they are there and returns them to Earth. And unlike Soyuz, Progress has a refuelling module and a cargo module.

Knowledge needs to be free!
SMOS Safe in Orbit

SMOS Safe in Orbit

By | | Comments 0 Comment

SMOS Forms Three-Pointed Star In The Sky

Carried on the SMOS satellite, the MIRAS instrument consists of a central structure and three deployable arms, each of which has three segments. During launch, these arms are folded-up. Just over 36 hours after SMOS has been injected into orbit, the arms are gently deployed. Credits: ESA – AOES Medialab. For an animation of this process please go here.
by Staff Writers
Paris, France (ESA) Nov 04, 2009
Following the launch of ESA’s SMOS satellite on 2 November, the French space agency CNES, which is responsible for operating the satellite, has confirmed that the instrument’s three antenna arms have deployed as planned, and that the instrument is in good health.

During launch and the first few orbits around Earth, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) instrument’s antenna arms remained safely folded up. Today, these three arms folded-out and now form a large three-pointed star shape. With its unusual shape, measuring eight metres across, SMOS can be dubbed a ‘star in the sky’.

The SMOS instrument is called MIRAS – short for Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis – and is actually bigger than the satellite platform. It consists of a central hub and the three arms that have just deployed. This deployment is crucial to the success of the mission as they carry the key measuring devices: most of the 69 small antenna receivers called LICEFs.

To acquire data on soil moisture and ocean salinity, each of the LICEF antenna-receivers measures radiation emitted from Earth’s surface within the ‘L-band’, around a frequency of 1.4 GHz. This frequency provides the best sensitivity to variations in moisture in the soil and changes in the salinity of the surface waters of the oceans. In addition, this frequency is not affected too much by the weather, atmosphere and vegetation cover.

To achieve the spacial resolution required by the data users, the MIRAS instrument employs a novel use of technology. Under normal circumstances, measuring these two environmental variables using L-band would only work with a huge antenna – which would be too big to be carried by a satellite. To overcome this challenge, the SMOS mission has borrowed techniques used in radio astronomy.

Radio astronomers, searching for celestial objects that are not detectable in optical astronomy, also faced the challenge of needing to detect small signals from point sources in space at a long wavelength, requiring a big antenna.

Since signals are detected as waves, signals from different telescopes can be added to synthesise the pinpointing of a much larger telescope. To achieve this, radio astronomers combined 27 radio telescopes, each 25 m in diameter, and deployed them on a Y-shaped track that can be extended up to 35 km. This is known as the Very Large Array in New Mexico, US.

Like the Very Large Array, the SMOS instrument also forms a Y-shape and through a process of interferometry the 69 small antenna receivers mimic a much larger antenna.

The deployment of the SMOS arms marks another significant milestone for ESA’s water mission. The satellite will now undergo a series of health checks within its six-month commissioning phase. So far, however, all the signs are good that this second of ESA’s Earth Explorer satellites in orbit is fit and healthy following launch and will be able to deliver the data to advance our understanding of Earth’s water cycle

Knowledge needs to be free!
India to take second moon shot by 2012, eyes Mars

India to take second moon shot by 2012, eyes Mars

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Buoyed by the success of its maiden lunar mission, India on Thursday said it will send a second unmanned spacecraft to the moon by 2012.
The announcement came less than a week after Chandrayaan-1, India’s first unmanned spacecraft, entered lunar orbit for the start of a two-year mission.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the second spacecraft would also place a probe on the moon’s surface.

“Chandrayaan-II will be launched by 2012,” ISRO chairman Madavan Nair told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar in the southern Indian city of Chennai.

“We will have a lander that will drop a small robot on the moon, which will pick samples, analyse data and send the data back,” the Press Trust of India quoted Nair as saying.

He said Chandrayaan-1 will on Friday drop a probe, painted in India’s national colours, on the moon.

“Already 95 percent of the mission has been completed. The total success of the mission would be known only after the remaining work is completed,” he said.

During its mission, Chandrayaan-1 will provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon’s surface.

India hopes the lunar missions will boost its space programme into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China.

“We cannot be lagging behind in terms of our capability to access space. China, the US and Japan are going ahead with huge plans for space,” the ISRO chairman said.

Nair also dismissed criticism the 80-million dollar Chandrayaan-1 project was beyond ISRO’s budget and said the agency would use the infrastructure created for the lunar mission for more ambitious programmes.

“Most of the expenses have gone to create infrastructural facilities, which will be used for our plans to send satellites to Mars and Venus,” Nair said, adding the organisation would also launch a satellite to solar emissions.

Knowledge needs to be free!
Students Invited To Name New Mars Rover

Students Invited To Name New Mars Rover

By | | Comments 0 Comment

NASA is looking for the right stuff, or in this case, the right name for the next Mars rover. NASA, in cooperation with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ movie WALL-E from Pixar Animation Studios, will conduct a naming contest for its car-sized Mars Science Laboratory rover that is scheduled for launch in 2009.
The contest begins Tuesday, Nov. 18, and is open to students 5 to 18 years old who attend a U.S. school and are enrolled in the current academic year. To enter the contest, students will submit essays explaining why their suggested name for the rover should be chosen.

Essays must be received by Jan. 25, 2009. In March 2009, the public will have an opportunity to rank nine finalist names via the Internet as additional input for judges to consider during the selection process. NASA will announce the winning rover name in April 2009.

Disney will provide prizes to students submitting winning essays, including a trip to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., where the rover is under construction. The grand prize winner will have an opportunity to place a signature on the spacecraft and take part in the history of space exploration.

“Mars exploration has always captured the public imagination,” said Mark Dahl, program executive for the Mars Science Laboratory at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This contest will expand our ability to inspire students’ interest in science and give the public a chance to participate in NASA’s next expedition to Mars.”

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in Burbank, Calif., will make it possible for WALL-E, the name of its animated robotic hero and summer 2008 movie, to appear in online content inviting students to participate in the naming contest.

The online WALL-E content will provide young viewers with a current connection to the human-robotic partnership that is transforming discovery and exploration. The contest coincides with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s release of WALL-E on DVD and Blu-ray.

The naming contest partnership is part of a Space Act Agreement between NASA and Disney designed to use the appeal of WALL-E in educational and public outreach efforts.

“All of us at Disney are delighted to be working with NASA in its educational and public outreach efforts to teach schoolchildren about space exploration, robot technology and the universe in which they live,” said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group. “WALL-E is one of the most lovable and entertaining characters that Pixar has ever created, and he is the perfect spokes-robot for this program.”

The Mars Science Laboratory rover will be larger and more capable than any craft previously sent to land there. It will check whether the environment in a carefully selected landing region ever has been favorable for supporting microbial life. The rover will search for minerals that formed in the presence of water and look for several chemical building blocks of life.

“We are now in a phase when we’re building and testing the rover before its journey to Mars,” said John Klein, deputy project manager for the Mars Science Laboratory at JPL. “As the rover comes together and begins to take shape, the whole team can’t wait to call it by name.”

Additional assignments include imaging its surroundings in high definition, analyzing rocks with a high-powered laser beam, inspecting rocks and soil with a six-foot robotic arm, and cooking and sniffing rock powder delivered from a hammering drill to investigate what minerals are in Martian rocks.

Knowledge needs to be free!
India's moon mission enters lunar space!

India's moon mission enters lunar space!

By | | Comments 0 Comment

India’s first unmanned moon mission entered lunar space early Tuesday as part of its final journey this week into the moon’s orbit, a top space official said.

The Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft was launched with an Indian-built rocket on October 22 from the country’s southeastern coast.

“The operation to put Chandrayaan into lunar space went off very well,” S. Satish, director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told AFP.

The spacecraft is now 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the moon, enabling its terrain-mapping camera to shoot pictures of it.

Scientists are preparing for the next major stage to enable the spacecraft to enter lunar orbit on Saturday and position itself about 100 kilometres from the moon’s surface.

Once the mission is in the lunar orbit, it will stabilise in about a week, after which it will send a probe instrument to the moon’s surface.

Chandrayaan carries 11 payloads — five from India and others from abroad.

During a two-year orbital mission, it will provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon’s surface.

The mission will cost India 80 million dollars.

Knowledge needs to be free!
College Students Develop "Rocket Motors" In Tamil Nadu

College Students Develop "Rocket Motors" In Tamil Nadu

By | | Comments 0 Comment
Applause 

Well, Its not really a rocket motor , but a motor used onboard rockets, 

And its by a team composing of faculty and students of VIT and AU. 

Appreciation and Critical Point
Yes its an achievement for the stdent folk and needs to be appreciated, but I’ll certainly say the staff of the universites shouldn’t get sloppy after 2-3 innovations to account for the DRDO/ISRO Collobration funds in addition to CSIR funds,  we need more and more turnkey solutions coming out of our universities to mainstearm Indian economy.
The News Piece:

Students of an engineering college here have developed for the first time in the country, two special brushless motors, which will form an important part in the soon to be launched GSLV rocket. These motors were previously being imported by Indian Space Research Organisation.

A prototype of this motor was displayed by the students of Sona College of Technology to ISRO scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VVSC) and ISRO’s inertial systems unit (IISU) at Thiruvanthapuram.

The first motor, which will be placed in the rocket nozzle for controlling its direction, is a 32 newton metre, 1000 rotations per minute quadruplex brushless DC torque motor, Director of Sona Special Power Electronics and Electric Drives (SSPEED) said.

The second, for controlling the rotation of the panels in a satellite, is a 2 newton metre, 50 rotations per minute slotless brushless DC motor. It will be used in the scan mechanism of microwave analysis detection of rain and atmospheric structures for the Megha Tropiques Spacecraft.

ISRO’s inertial systems unit needed ‘cog free’ motors to enhance the performance of precision scanning mechanisms in spacecraft and SSPEED had met all the required parameters, he said.

Prof Kannan said this was a “unique” achievement by an institution, which designed and developed an aerospace quality component for actual use in ISRO’s satellites and rockets. “This would save precious foreign exchange and provide valuable technical know how,” he said.

Source: Press Trust of India



Knowledge needs to be free!
College Students Develop "Rocket Motors" In Tamil Nadu

College Students Develop "Rocket Motors" In Tamil Nadu

By | | Comments 0 Comment
Applause 

Well, Its not really a rocket motor , but a motor used onboard rockets, 

And its by a team composing of faculty and students of VIT and AU. 

Appreciation and Critical Point
Yes its an achievement for the stdent folk and needs to be appreciated, but I’ll certainly say the staff of the universites shouldn’t get sloppy after 2-3 innovations to account for the DRDO/ISRO Collobration funds in addition to CSIR funds,  we need more and more turnkey solutions coming out of our universities to mainstearm Indian economy.
The News Piece:

Students of an engineering college here have developed for the first time in the country, two special brushless motors, which will form an important part in the soon to be launched GSLV rocket. These motors were previously being imported by Indian Space Research Organisation.

A prototype of this motor was displayed by the students of Sona College of Technology to ISRO scientists at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VVSC) and ISRO’s inertial systems unit (IISU) at Thiruvanthapuram.

The first motor, which will be placed in the rocket nozzle for controlling its direction, is a 32 newton metre, 1000 rotations per minute quadruplex brushless DC torque motor, Director of Sona Special Power Electronics and Electric Drives (SSPEED) said.

The second, for controlling the rotation of the panels in a satellite, is a 2 newton metre, 50 rotations per minute slotless brushless DC motor. It will be used in the scan mechanism of microwave analysis detection of rain and atmospheric structures for the Megha Tropiques Spacecraft.

ISRO’s inertial systems unit needed ‘cog free’ motors to enhance the performance of precision scanning mechanisms in spacecraft and SSPEED had met all the required parameters, he said.

Prof Kannan said this was a “unique” achievement by an institution, which designed and developed an aerospace quality component for actual use in ISRO’s satellites and rockets. “This would save precious foreign exchange and provide valuable technical know how,” he said.

Source: Press Trust of India



Knowledge needs to be free!
Military Space Race , Again?!

Military Space Race , Again?!

By | | Comments 0 Comment

The Americans seem determined to flood outer space with weapons. In early April U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Henry Obering again called for the early deployment of space-based missile defense systems, a universal means of hitting either ground or space targets.

His Russian counterpart and longtime opponent on this issue, Space Forces Commander Col. Gen. Vladimir Popovkin, responded in late May, warning for the umpteenth time: “We are against any deployment or placement of weapons in outer space, as it is one of the few realms where frontiers do not exist. Militarization of outer space will disrupt the current balance in the world.”

The Russian general is seriously worried that space-based attack weapons could increase the risk of igniting hostilities on the ground.

Putting the long-distance dispute between the two generals aside, let us recall that the defensive doctrines of most industrialized countries are space-oriented. Satellite systems are involved in every aspect of an industrialized country’s activity, warfare included. The majority of modern weapon systems, both nuclear and conventional, include space-based components.

Russia is behind the United States in development and deployment of space-based systems. The figures are far from encouraging. A total of around 500 American and 100 Russian satellites currently are orbiting the Earth. The U.S. military satellite fleet is more than four times the size of Russia’s, and some of the orbiting Russian satellites are inoperable.

The Americans also have the Navstar Global Positioning System, which has been working successfully already several years. Russia’s equivalent, the widely publicized GLONASS, is undergoing its initial deployment, with only 12 operable satellites presently in orbit, compared with 31 American ones.

Obviously the Pentagon can afford to speak of space-based weapons deployment, possessing such impressive assets.

Now back to Col. Gen. Popovkin’s idea that space-based weapons could spark a war. He says that present space systems and complexes are very sophisticated and susceptible to failures, and “in such cases, I cannot guarantee that a failure was not caused by hostile action.”

Is this statement logical? Surely it is. Strategic nuclear stability — that is to say, a high-degree guarantee against a surprise nuclear missile strike — depends on the trouble-free operation of early warning and intelligence satellites. If a satellite fails with another country’s attack weapons deployed in orbit, there will be an increase of mistrust, which could lead to a military disaster.

Besides, it is well known that tests involving satellite destruction result in a growing amount of orbital debris, which is difficult to counter. According to NASA and the U.S. Air Force, China’s anti-satellite weapon tests in January 2007 left up to 2,000 baseball-sized fragments orbiting at altitudes of 120 to 2,340 miles above the Earth. High speed makes these fragments extremely dangerous for man-made space objects.

An international treaty banning weapons from outer space certainly would help avoid more such trouble, or at least minimize the risks. Yet the United States sticks to the opinion that such an agreement would be impracticable.

Knowledge needs to be free!
Mobile Healthcare program in Rural AP

Mobile Healthcare program in Rural AP

By | | Comments 0 Comment

Satyam Computer Services has announced that it has embarked on a revolutionary program to deliver world-class healthcare to remote villages in India.

The public/private partnership between the government of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and Satyam provides a fleet of healthcare vans – mobile health units (MHU) – that visit villages on designated days to deliver healthcare services to rural Indians, many of whom have never been seen by medical professionals before.

The program, known as 104 Mobile, is designed to expand the scope and delivery of healthcare in rural areas. The technology-enabled, comprehensive offering provides a range of health services to villagers located more than three kilometers from public health service providers.

While it will help cure numerous afflictions and prevent countless others, the program is expected to make a transformational difference with regard to maternal and infant health problems, as well as chronic ailments. It is also especially effective at delivering preventive medicine, which is lacking in most villages.

“Mobile 104 will enhance the lives of rural Indians dramatically,” said Satyam Founder and Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju.

“Too many villagers are troubled by ailments that are entirely preventable or easily cured in this day and age; they simply need access to basic healthcare, which this program provides. Satyam is proud to participate in the initiative and we will leverage our expertise with other rural healthcare programs and public/private partnerships to ensure that its expansion is rapid and seamless.”

Much of the expertise Raju mentioned concerns the Byrraju Foundation and the Emergency Medical Research Institute, organizations he founded.

Satyam works closely with the Byrraju Foundation, which establishes basic infrastructure elements in Indian villages, including sanitation, education, clean water and healthcare. The Foundation works on the premise that people must be healthy before they can tackle other problems.

As such, healthcare is its primary concern. Additionally, Satyam established EMRI, and was integral in the creation of Call 108, an emergency number based on 911 in the United States. Both Byrraju and EMRI have been tremendous successes; their programs, which began in Andhra Pradesh, are being replicated throughout India.

With each MHU serving villages of about 1,500 people for four hours per month, each vehicle will be able to visit approximately 56 villages every month. The “fixed-day” approach will enable villagers to adjust their schedules to accommodate MHU visits.

For instance, residents of a particular village – via posters and other marketing initiatives – will know that the vehicle will show up on the 3rd of each month. By November, the service will deploy 475 vehicles and cover 50,000 rural villages – 40 million people, most of whom live below the poverty line.

MHUs include paramedics, pharmacists and lab technicians. The modern, state-of-the-art vehicles are equipped to carry numerous drugs and can store blood/urine samples for testing. They even feature a television that can show public health education programs.

Services they provide include pre- and post-natal checkups, height and weight monitoring, nutritional supplements for mothers and children, basic blood and urine lab investigations and screening, advice and medicine dispensation for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, epilepsy and anemia.

When seriously ill patients show up at an MHU, an ambulance is summoned via EMRI (Call 108) and the sick person is brought to an Andhra Pradesh hospital.

Moreover, because cultural sensitivities in many rural areas prevent some women from pursuing care they may need, the 104 Mobile program trains female health volunteers (known as ASHA workers) in rural communities. These female healthcare providers conduct beneficiary visits and provide villagers with 24-hour access to 104 advice, often via mobile phone. Eventually, Andhra Pradesh will feature 40,000 ASHAs.

Satyam is enabling much of the technology that drives the program. Its engineers designed the vehicles – with rural India in mind – and have established the infrastructure to support a rapidly growing initiative. Other examples of how technology enables the Mobile 104 abound:

+ Each patient is assigned a number, which is stored in a secure database. The tracking number, when accessed, will provide a patient’s entire medical history. This will facilitate care and prevent distribution of drugs to which a patient is allergic.

+ The program is web-enabled; patients can communicate with the call center via phone, fax, chat, SMS or email. In addition, ASHA workers can send patient data from field visits via SMS.

+ Medical information is uploaded immediately to hospitals, enabling immediate follow-up.

+ Results of each patient contact are tracked daily in a database.

+ Villagers are connected with other healthcare services for which they qualify.

+ Mobile units use GPS to find remote villages quickly.

“We are proud to apply our world-class technology and healthcare management expertise, along with all we have learned with EMRI and the Byrraju Foundation, to help make Mobile 104 a success,” Raju said. “The comprehensive, integrated virtual platform will enable Satyam to collaborate with healthcare delivery networks – government and private hospitals, clinics, etc. – to transform the way rural Indians receive medical treatment.”

Knowledge needs to be free!
Tunguska Event Still A Mystery 100 Years OnTunguska Event Still A Mystery 100 Years On

Tunguska Event Still A Mystery 100 Years OnTunguska Event Still A Mystery 100 Years On

By | | Comments 0 Comment


Scientists will gather in Siberia to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tunguska Event June 26-28, one of the world’s most mysterious explosions which flattened 80 million trees but largely went unnoticed at the time. The massive blast, equivalent to around 15 megatons of TNT, occurred approximately 7-10 km (3-6 miles) above the Stony Tunguska River in a remote area of central Siberia early on June 30, 1908.

The explosion, which was estimated to measure up to 5 on the Richter scale, knocked people off their feet 70 km away and destroyed an area of around 2,150 sq km (830 sq miles).

And if the explosion had occurred some 4 hours and 47 minutes later, due to the Earth’s rotation it would have completely destroyed the then Russian capital of St. Petersburg.

However, despite the fact that the night sky was lit up across Europe and Asia and the shock waves were detected as far away as Britain, the Tunguska Event largely went unnoticed eclipsed by global events leading up to World War I, the Russian Revolution and subsequent civil war and it was not until almost 20 years later in 1927 that any scientific expedition managed to visit the remote site.

The 1927-expedition led by Leonid Kulik, a leading meteorite expert at the Academy of Sciences, discovered the massive destruction left by the blast and gathered witness statements from locals living in the area. It was assumed that a huge meteorite had hit the area, although Kulik failed, during his research in Siberia, to find an obvious crater.

And around 33 years later another expedition was also unsuccessful in its search for the elusive crater and scientists were faced with the Tunguska mystery – an explosion, 1,000 times more powerful that the WWII atomic bomb at Hiroshima, but which had left no trace as to its cause.

Although there have been dozens of theories since, from UFOs, antimatter, doomsday events and black holes, the most likely being an airborne explosion of a 10-30-meter wide meteorite or comet, none of them has provided conclusive evidence which has merely fuelled the speculation surrounding Tunguska.

At the Tunguska conference in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in Siberia scientists from all over Russia will gather to discuss, using the latest computer technology, as well as less traditional methods, what actually caused the destruction in the remote Siberian region.

As part of the anniversary, in the Evenki autonomous area, a statue of the Evenki god of Thunder, which reflects eyewitness testimony to the events 100 years ago, will be erected at the site believed to be the meteorite crash location.


—————-
Now playing: VOICE OF ILAYARAJA – YENNA
via FoxyTunes

Knowledge needs to be free!
Bitnami