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GS Paper: GS3

  • What is Immune Imprinting?

    A slew of recent studies has shown that a phenomenon in our bodies, called immune imprinting, might be making new boosters vaccines far less effective than expected for coronavirus infection.

    What is Immune Imprinting?

    • Immune imprinting is a tendency of the body to repeat its immune response based on the first variant it encountered.
    • Our body does this through infection or vaccination — when it comes across a newer or slightly different variant of the same pathogen.
    • The phenomenon was first observed in 1947, when scientists noted that “people who had previously had flu, and were then vaccinated against the current circulating strain, produced antibodies against the first strain.
    • At the time, it was termed the ‘original antigenic sin’ but today, it’s commonly known as imprinting.

    How imprinting works for immune system?

    • Imprinting acts as a database for the immune system, helping it put up a better response to repeat infections.
    • After our body is exposed to a virus for the first time, it produces memory B cells that circulate in the bloodstream and quickly produce antibodies whenever the same strain of the virus infects again.
    • The problem occurs when a similar, not identical, variant of the virus is encountered by the body.
    • In such cases, the immune system, rather than generating new B cells, activates memory B cells.
    • This in turn produce antibodies that bind to features found in both the old and new strains, known as cross-reactive antibodies.

    Are the booster doses completely useless?

    • These cross-reactive antibodies do offer some protection against the new strain,.
    • However they are not as effective as the ones produced by the B cells when the body first came across the original virus.

    How to circumvent immune imprinting?

    • Currently, several ongoing studies are trying to find a way to deal with imprinting.
    • Some scientists have said nasal vaccines might be better at preventing infections than injected ones.
    • They believe the mucous membranes would create stronger protection, despite carrying some imprint of past exposure.
    • Researchers are also trying to find if spacing out coronavirus vaccine shots on an annual basis, could help with the problem of imprinting.

     

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  • China plus one (C+1) strategy and advantage for India

    China

    Context

    • In January 2023, India surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country with a population count of approximately 1.417 billion as against China’s 1.412 billion, as estimated by the World Population Review (WPR). This creates both opportunities and challenges for India.

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    The global turmoil and China as enablers of the Indian growth story

    • There are three factors that have enabled the Indian growth story.
    • Overdependence on specific economies: If the pandemic had had one crucial lesson for the global economy, it must be reducing the overdependence on China-specific Global Value Chains (GVCs). As is evident from the pandemic, the subsequent Ukraine-Russia war or the recent disastrous COVID-19 surge in China the overdependence on specific economies is bound to have cascading effects on the world economy because of the macroeconomic shocks they produce.
    • Glocalised models of economic partnerships: Countries now strive to strike the right balance between globalisation and localisation, through bilateral and multilateral platforms characterised by leveraging sub-regional comparative advantages. To a large extent, these emerging forms of glocalised models are also based on controlling Beijing’s political and economic prowess in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, where India plays an active role.
    • Use of technology: There is no doubt that the pandemic has provided an uptick in the use of technology ranging from the provision of social security payments at the grassroots to government-level conferences.

    China

    China plus one (C+1) strategy

    • The US-China trade war and the pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions emanating from China have indeed paved the way for many western corporates to consider a China Plus One (C+1) strategy.
    • The strategy would entail diversifying investments from China to other countries, to mitigate the economic and geopolitical risks associated with the former.
    • While many also hail Vietnam as another economy to be in the race of attracting investments fleeing China, India could be the potential frontrunner in the C+1 game.

    China

    Why makes India to surge ahead in C+1?

    • India’s economic advancement: India has a demographic advantage over China, with a larger percentage of its population under 30. This young population is expected to drive consumption, savings, and investments, leading to India’s goal of a multi-trillion dollar economy.
    • Low cost of labour is an advantage: India has a low cost of labor and other forms of capital, making production costs lower and increasing competitiveness in international markets. India’s labor cost is also half that of Vietnam, making it a strong player in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing.
    • India’s heavy infrastructure investment: A heavy investment in physical infrastructure through the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is expected to reduce costs in manufacturing sectors and cut transportation time and costs by 20%. This is in contrast to China, where multiple companies handle different parts of the transportation process, increasing costs
    • India’s conducive business environment: Recent policy interventions in India such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, tax reforms, liberalization of FDI policies, setting up of land pools and organizing business summits have helped attract investments to the domestic economy. These efforts, driven by the Make in India initiative, have also been supported by efforts to promote competitive federalism and reduce transaction costs of doing business.
    • India’s digital advantage: India’s high internet penetration at 43% allows for digital skilling initiatives to bring returns across various economic sectors, particularly services. A combination of home-grown technologies and greater access to Google and Facebook, which are banned in China, gives Indian youth a digital edge.
    • As English is the second language provides ease of communication: the prevalence of the English language skill set in the young Indian populace undoubtedly puts India ahead of China. As English is the second official language in the Indian states, it provides business executives with ease of communication in conducting business with North American and European clients.
    • Well balanced economic partnerships: India’s economic partnerships are characterized by utilizing sub-regional comparative advantages and controlling Beijing’s political and economic power in the Indo-Pacific. India’s decision to not join the RCEP in 2020 to protect its domestic market and curb trade deficits sends a strong signal of its disassociation with Beijing in trade partnerships. The CEPA signed with the UAE in 2022 is expected to increase two-way trade to $100 billion in five years by opening access for Indian exporters to Arab and African markets.
    • Dynamic Indian diplomacy: India has strengthened its economy through diplomatic partnerships and trade agreements, such as the QUAD, I2U2, and agreements with Australia, Canada, the European Union, and African countries. These partnerships have provided Indian businesses with greater access to finance, technology, and new markets. As India assumes the presidency of the G20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization this year, it is well-positioned to navigate changing globalisation trends and be a strong voice for the Global South.
    • Most important is the large domestic market: India’s large domestic market with a population of 1.3 billion and increasing incomes at 6.9 percent per annum offers a competitive alternative to China’s massive domestic market. With a population base of 98 million, Vietnam’s market is much smaller in comparison.

    China

    Conclusion

    • Indian economy that has risen from the ashes like a phoenix after a year of negative growth caused by the pandemic-led lockdown. India’s 74th Republic Day, therefore, should not merely mark a remembrance of the past or a celebration of adoption of the world’s largest and most comprehensive constitution, but should also be a celebration of the dazzling future of a roaring economy that will show light to a dreary world.

    Mains question

    Q. What is China plus one (C+1) strategy? Discuss why it is said that India will surge ahead in C+1?

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  • Aditya-L1: India’s first mission to Sun to be launched soon

    aditya

    The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the Aditya-L1 mission by June or July this year.

    What is Aditya-L1 Mission?

    • ISRO categorizes Aditya L1 as a 400 kg-class satellite that will be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in XL configuration.
    • It will observe the Sun from a close distance, and try to obtain information about its atmosphere and magnetic field.
    • The space-based observatory will have seven payloads (instruments) on board to study the Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.

    L1: Behind the name

    • L1 refers to Lagrangian/Lagrange Point 1, one of five points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system.
    • Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange, are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system (like the Sun and the Earth) produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
    • The L1 point is about 1.5 million km from Earth, or about one-hundredth of the way to the Sun.

    Major payloads

    • In total Aditya-L1 has seven payloads, of which the primary payload is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC), designed and fabricated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru.
    • The satellite carries additional six payloads-
    1. SUIT, the solar ultraviolet imaging telescope
    2. ASPEX (Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment),
    3. PAPA (Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya),
    4. SoLEXS (Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer),
    5. HEL1OS (High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray spectrometer) and
    6. Magnetometer — with enhanced science scope and objectives possible by extensive remote and in-situ observation of the sun.

    Why is studying the Sun important?

    (1) To understand space weather

    • To learn about and track Earth-directed storms, and to predict their impact, continuous solar observations are needed.
    • Every storm that emerges from the Sun and heads towards Earth passes through L1, and a satellite placed in the halo orbit around L1 of the Sun-Earth system has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.

    (2) Observing corona

    • The VELC payload will be able to observe the corona continuously and the data provided by it is expected to answer many outstanding problems in the field of solar astronomy.
    • No other solar coronagraph in space has the ability to image the solar corona as close to the solar disk as VELC can.
    • It can image it as close as 1.05 times the solar radius.
    • It can also do imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry at the same time, and can take observations at a very high resolution (level of detail) and many times a second.

    Why are solar missions challenging?

    • Distance: What makes a solar mission challenging is the distance of the Sun from Earth (about 149 million km on average, compared to the only 3.84 lakh km to the Moon).
    • Heat: More importantly the super-hot temperatures and radiations in the solar atmosphere make it difficult to study.

    Major missions to Sun till now

    • NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has already gone far closer — but it will be looking away from the Sun.
    • The earlier Helios 2 solar probe, a joint venture between NASA and space agency of erstwhile West Germany, went within 43 million km of the Sun’s surface in 1976.

     

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  • New T+1 Settlement Cycle comes into effect

    settlement

    After China, India will become the second country in the world to start the ‘trade-plus-one’ (T+1) settlement cycle in top-listed securities today.

    What’s the T+1 settlement plan?

    • The T+1 settlement cycle means that trade-related settlements must be done within a day, or 24 hours, of the completion of a transaction.
    • For example, under T+1, if a customer bought shares on Wednesday, they would be credited to the customer’s demat account on Thursday.
    • This is different from T+2, where they will be settled on Friday.
    • As many as 256 large-cap and top mid-cap stocks, including Nifty and Sensex stocks, will come under the T+1 settlement from Friday.

    What was the earlier settlement system?

    • Until 2001, stock markets had a weekly settlement system.
    • The markets then moved to a rolling settlement system of T+3, and then to T+2 in 2003.
    • In 2020, Sebi deferred the plan to halve the trade settlement cycle to one day (T+1) following opposition from foreign investors.

    What are the benefits of T+1?

    • T+1 system brings operational efficiency, faster fund remittances, share delivery, and ease for stock market participants.
    • In the T+1 format, if an investor sells a share, she will get the money within a day, and the buyer will get the shares in her demat account also within a day.
    • The shorter trade settlement cycle augurs well for the Indian equity markets from a liquidity perspective.
    • This will also help investors in reducing the overall capital requirements with the margins getting released on T+1 day, and in getting the funds in the bank account within 24 hours of the sale of shares.
    • The shift will boost operational efficiency as the rolling of funds and stocks will be faster.

    Issues with T+1 system

    • T+1 is being implemented despite opposition from foreign investors.
    • The United States, United Kingdom and Eurozone markets are yet to move to the T+1 system.

    Why are foreign investors opposed?

    • Foreign investors have some operational issues as they operate from different geographies.
    • Among the issues raised by them were time zone differences, information flow processes, and foreign exchange problems.
    • Foreign investors said they would also find it difficult to hedge their net India exposure in dollar terms at the end of the day under the T+1 system.

     

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  • Ideal Train Profile: Railways’ AI-based project to shorten ticket waitlists

    The Indian Railways has concluded the trial of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) program it built to fix a perennial issue — long waiting lists for tickets.

    Ideal Train Profile

    • Ideal Train Profile was made by Railways’ in-house software arm Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
    • It was fed with information like how millions of passengers booked tickets on these trains, which origin-destination pairs were a hit and which were flops at what time of the year, which seats remained vacant for what portion of a journey, etc.
    • This project has been in the works for the past two years, wherein the AI has been “taught” ticket booking data and trends of the past few years.
    • It has come up with the best possible combination of how many berths to keep for which sectors and at what time.
    • The combination of “training data” the AI has been fed goes back three years.

    Significance of the project

    • The AI-driven program has, for the first time, allocated vacant berths in over 200 trains in such a way that fewer people need to turn away without a confirmed ticket.
    • The waiting lists on these trains, as a result, have seen a curtailment.

    Need for AI in ticket booking

    • Currently, the passenger is handed out a wait-listed ticket and asked to wait until four hours prior to departure, when the final seat chart is prepared, to see if she made the list.
    • This is because a large number of berths are earmarked for various quotas and various origin-destination combinations of the train’s routes.
    • If there are 60 halts in a long-distance train, then there are 1,800 possible ticket combinations of origin and destination.
    • If there are 10 halts, there are typically about 45 ticket combinations and so on.
    • The Ideal Train Profile’s AI tells the Passenger Reservation System how best to give out confirmed tickets and for which sectors.

    Way forward

    • The AI does data-driven remote location selection, completely automates the process of quota distribution, and suggests optimal quota for different ticket combinations based on historical demand.
    • The project has got the Railway Board excited about the possibility of how it can manage busy season rush, when the demands of confirmed tickets are at a peak.
    • So the coming summer vacation season will be the first big test for the new system.

     

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  • What ails the Ken-Betwa River Link Project?

    ken-betwa

    The Steering Committee of the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) held its third meeting in New Delhi.

    What is the Ken Betwa Link Project?

    • The Ken-Betwa Link Project is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for the interlinking of rivers.
    • Under this project, water from the Ken River will be transferred to the Betwa river.
    • Both these rivers are tributaries of the river Yamuna.

    The Project has two phases:

    • Under Phase-I, one of the components — Daudhan dam complex and its appurtenances like Low Level Tunnel, High Level Tunnel, Ken-Betwa link canal and Power houses — will be completed.
    • While in the Phase-II, three components — Lower Orr dam, Bina complex project and Kotha barrage — will be constructed.

    Utility of the Project

    • Irrigation: The project is slated to irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares annually, provide drinking water supply to 62 lakh people and generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power.
    • Water supply: The project will be of immense benefit to the water-starved Bundelkhand region, spread across Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
    • Agricultural boost: The project is expected to boost socio-economic prosperity in the backward Bundelkhand region on account of increased agricultural activities and employment generation.
    • Addressing Rural Distress: It would also help in arresting distress migration from this region.

    Ecological issues with the project

    • The government’s plan is based on a ‘surplus and deficit’ model that have little basis in science.
    • There may not even be enough water in the Ken, a non-perennial river, to meet the projected needs of the Betwa – forget the needs of the Bundelkhand region.
    • UP and MP could not agree on how water would be shared, particularly in the non-monsoonal months.
    • The project plans to create a high reservoir-dam on the Ken River in the Panna National Park and Tiger Reserve for the KBLP.
    • Downstream of the national park lies the Ken Gharial Sanctuary, created to protect the critically endangered Gangetic gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).

    What are the legal problems?

    • Approval by the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife to the Ken-Betwa link Project has not been proved.
    • This is necessary for the improvement and better management of the wildlife therein as provided in Section 35(6) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

    Issues with the projects

    • Migration: It will lead to massive displacement of people
    • Topography change: Since the Ganga basin topography is flat, building dams would not substantially add to river flows.
    • Inundation: The transfer of such enormous amounts of water will inundate forests and land for reservoirs.
    • Seismic hazards: The weight of billions of liters of water can have seismic implications in the Himalayan region.
    • Financial expense: River inter-linking is an expensive business from building the link canals to the monitoring and maintenance of infrastructure.
    • Political will: Implementation of the project not only needs a huge financial capital but also political support both is scarce commodities as of now.
    • Consensus building for land acquisition: Another important issue is building consensus among states and Land acquisition.
    • Ecological feasibility: Once the project is implemented it would lead to large-scale displacement of people and animals.

    Criticisms of such projects

    • Bad Science: Such projects are built on bad science and an outdated understanding of water systems and water management.
    • Human determinism: Such projects go in contravention with natural process thereby generating more scope for threat than any opportunity.

    Way forward

    • Due diligence: Expert scrutiny during the project-approval stage are cornerstones of sound environmental governance.
    • Independent hydrological study: of these rivers is necessary.

    Conclusion

    • No developmental project should destroy the ecology of remnant fragile ecosystems and an important tiger habitat in the country.
    • Destructive impact of the proposed dam on the flow of water into and outside of this sanctuary should be immediately clear, as also its violation of the requirement under the Act for a sanctuary

     

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  • Green Comet appears close to Earth after 50,000 years

    comet

    The rare green comet that last came to Earth about 50,000 years ago has returned to the skies of Earth. C/2022 E3 (ZTF) can be seen with the naked eye if the conditions in the sky are just right.

    What are Comets?

    • Comets are frozen rocky or gas-filled objects that are remnants of the formation of the solar system.
    • Due to their composition, characteristics and the path they move in, they tend to leave a light “behind them”.
    • Here, the comet itself is green (called the head of the comet) and emits a whitish light behind it (often called the tail of the comet).
    • Just like other bodies in space, comets also have orbits.
    • They are sometimes pulled in close to the sun because of the sun’s gravity acting on them.
    • As they orbit near the Sun, they heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet.
    • The remains of dust following this burning up, from a distance, look like a trail of light to humans on Earth.

    What is Green Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)?

    • Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was first discovered in March last year by the wide-field survey camera at the Zwicky Transient Facility when it was already inside the orbit of Jupiter.
    • While it was initially believed to be an asteroid, it began developing a tail as the Sun’s influence began vapourising the ice.
    • At the time of its discovery, it was shining with a magnitude of 17.3.

    Why is it green in colour?

    • Comets have often been seen giving out blue or whitish light, or even green.
    • In this case, the green glow “is thought to arise from the presence of diatomic carbon – pairs of carbon atoms that are bound together – in the head of the comet.
    • The molecule emits green light when excited by the ultraviolet rays in solar radiation.

    When and where can the green comet be seen?

    • Observers in the Northern Hemisphere will find the comet in the morning sky, as it moves swiftly toward the northwest during January.
    • It’ll become visible in the Southern Hemisphere in early February.
    • In Indian skies, when looking in the northwest direction, one might spot it 16° above the horizon in the Bootes constellation.
    • But with lights from buildings and streetlights on, it can be difficult to make it out without equipment.

    Is the green comet rare?      

    • It last came in the skies above Earth during the Upper Paleolithic period, a time when Neanderthals roamed the planet and early homo sapiens had just come around.
    • Coming under the category of long-period comets, which take more than 200 years to orbit the Sun, the green comet is not easily spotted.
    • With a highly elliptical orbit, the comet will head back to the Oort cloud and make its next appearance roughly 50,000 years later.
    • But given their orbits, it’s not unique for comets to reappear close to Earth only after many, many years.

     

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  • Species in news: Olive Ridley Turtles

    olive

    Hundreds of vulnerable Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) have washed ashore along the coastline between Kakinada and Antarvedi in the Godavari region during the ongoing annual breeding season on the east coast.

    Why in news?

    • The wastewater from the aqua ponds is also being released into the sea.
    • This is suspected to be one of the reasons for the mortality of turtles

    Olive Ridley Turtles

    • The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
    • In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
    • The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
    • The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

    Special feature: Mass nesting

    • They are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
    • Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
    • They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
    • They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.

     

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  • Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC)

    Insolvency

    Context

    • The introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in 2016 brought about a structural change in the resolution architecture in the country. However, despite its promise, the IBC, in its functioning, has fallen short of expectations. Last week, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs invited comments on a fresh set of changes it is considering to bring about in the Code. This is a welcome step.

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    What is Insolvency?

    • Simply speaking, insolvency is a financial state of being one that is reached when you are unable to pay off your debts on time.
    • Insolvency is essentially the state of being that prompts one to file for bankruptcy. An entity a person, family, or company becomes insolvent when it cannot pay its lenders back on time.

    Insolvency

    What is Bankruptcy?

    • Bankruptcy, on the other hand, is a legal process that serves the purpose of resolving the issue of insolvency.
    • Bankruptcy is a legal declaration of one’s inability to pay off debts. When one files for bankruptcy, one obliges to pay off what is owed with help from the government.

    What is the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (IBC)?

    • The IBC was enacted in 2016 to simplify insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings, safeguard interests of all stakeholders (the firm, employees, debtors and especially creditors), and resolve non-performing assets.
    • From a ‘debtor in possession’ regime, it was a shift to a ‘creditor in control’ one.
    • IBC provides for a time-bound process for resolving insolvencies.
    • The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) is the regulator implementing the code and overseeing the functioning of stakeholders.

    Why the IBC introduced?

    • Increasing Non-Performing Assets: In 2016, at a time when India’s Non-Performing Assets and debt defaults were piling up, and older loan recovery mechanisms were performing badly, the IBC was introduced to overhaul the corporate distress resolution regime in India.
    • Time bound mechanism: To consolidate previously available laws to create a time bound mechanism with a creditor­ in­ control model as opposed to the debtor ­in ­possession system.
    • Two positive outcomes: When insolvency is triggered under the IBC, there can be just two outcomes: resolution or liquidation. liquidation means the process of winding up a corporation or incorporated entity

    Insolvency

    What are the shortcomings in the code’s functioning?

    • Timelines are not followed: Realizations of creditors have been lower than expectations, and the strict timelines prescribed in the Code for resolving cases have not been adhered to.
    • Less realizable value: According to the most recent data, the total realisable value in cases resolved till September 2022 stood at only 30.8 per cent of the admitted claims.
    • Average time is rising: The data also shows that 64 per cent of the ongoing cases have crossed 270 days. In fact, as per reports, the average time taken for cases to be resolved has risen, driven in part by more time being spent on associated litigation.

    Insolvency

    Proposals to address the shortcomings

    • Removing ambiguity and bringing the predictability: The changes aim to reduce the time for admitting cases and streamline the process by pushing for greater reliance on data with Information Utilities. Considering the delays in admitting cases, and the implications of recent judicial interventions, this proposal seeks to remove ambiguity, and bring about predictability in the process.
    • Extending the pre-packed resolution to other firms: It has also been proposed that the pre-packaged insolvency resolution process that was introduced for micro, small and medium enterprises now be extended to other firms as well. While such a proposal should be appealing, so far very few cases have been admitted under this.
    • A clear distinction between the real estate projects: A distinction is now being made between a particular real estate project and the larger corporate entity. The government’s rationale for doing so is that this could allow the corporate entity to continue on other projects, while the stressed project can be tackled separately.
    • Changes to the manner in which proceeds will be distributed: Creditors will receive proceeds up to the liquidation value in line with the priority as prescribed under section 53 of the Code, and any surplus over such liquidation value will be rateably distributed between all creditors in the ratio of their unsatisfied claims.

    Conclusion

    • Attempts to improve IBC’s functioning are welcome. But some of the proposals need more careful examination. Changes to the Code should, after all, be driven by the objective of improving its functioning, and outcomes. This should be done keeping in mind the incentive structures of all stakeholders.

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  • Bimodal Nuclear Propulsion can send missions to Mars in 45 days

    nuclear

    NASA is planning to send mission to Mars in 45 days using the Bimodal Nuclear Propulsion.

    Bimodal Nuclear Propulsion: What is it?

    • NASA relaunched its program to develop bimodal nuclear propulsion a few years ago. Bimodal nuclear propulsion is a two-part system that includes an NTP and NEP element.
    • This system is expected to enable transits to Mars in 100 days.
    • In 2023, the US space agency started a new program named NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and has selected a nuclear concept for Phase I development.
    • This new bimodal nuclear propulsion system will use a “wave rotor topping cycle” that may reduce transit times to Mars to 45 days.

    How will nuclear propulsion work?

    • Nuclear propulsion is based on two concepts Nuclear-Thermal Propulsion (NTP) and Nuclear-Electric Propulsion (NEP).
    • The NTP system includes a nuclear reactor that will heat liquid hydrogen (LH2) propellant and turn it into ionised hydrogen gas (plasma) that will then be channelled through nozzles to generate thrust.
    • NEP depends on a nuclear reactor to provide electricity to a Hall-Effect thruster (ion engine).
    • It will generate an electromagnetic field that will ionise and accelerate an inert gas (for example xenon) to create thrust.

    Benefits offered

    • Nuclear propulsions have major advantages over conventional chemical propulsion.
    • These benefits include fuel efficiency, a higher specific impulse rating and unlimited energy density (virtually).
    • NEP’s advantage over NTP and conventional chemical propulsion systems is that it offers more than 10,000 seconds of Specific impulse (ISP).
    • ISP is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust.

    Benefits for manned missions

    • A crewed mission to Mars based on conventional propulsion technology may last up to three years.
    • However, A transit time of 45 days will reduce the overall mission time to months instead of years.
    • This will drastically reduce the major risks associated with missions to Mars which include – radiation exposure, the time spent in microgravity and related health concerns.

    Limitations of these nuclear propulsion systems

    • This means NEP systems can maintain thrust for close to three hours.
    • However, the thrust level is lower compared to conventional rockets and NTP systems.
    • In outer space, the thermal energy conversion rate is just 30-40% under ideal circumstances.

     

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