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Subject: Space Technology

  • Chinese astronauts enter Tiangong Space Station

    Three Chinese astronauts floated into the country’s new Tiangong space station for a three-month mission.

    Tiangong Space Station

    • Tiangong means “Heavenly Palace”.
    • It was 10.4 metres long and 3.35 metres wide at its widest point, and weighed 8.6 metric tonnes.
    • It was launched on September 15, 2016 and, in late 2016, hosted two Chinese astronauts for 30 days in what was China’s longest manned space mission so far.
    • The recently decommissioned space lab followed the Tiangong-1, China’s first space station, which crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean on April 1, 2018 after Chinese scientists lost control of the spacecraft.
    • China had launched Tiangong-1 in 2011 as proof-of-concept of technologies for future stations.
    • The Tiangong will be fully operational by the end of 2022.

    Features of this Space Station

    • The significant feature of Tiangong is its two robotic arms.
    • The US has previously expressed concern over its ability to grab objects including satellites from space.
    • The 10-meter-long arm was in action previously seen in action successfully grabbing and moving a 20 tonne Tianzhou-2 cargo ship in a test.
    • One of the noteworthy tasks for the Shenzhou-14 crew is to test and operate the large and small
    • The small arm is quite flexible and can perform operations with greater precision.

     

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  • International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT)

    The four-meter International Liquid Mirror Telescope (ILMT) saw the first light recently, gazing out from its vantage on Devasthal, a hill in Uttarakhand.

    What is the ILMT?

    • The telescope has been built by a collaboration of scientists from Canada, Belgium and India.
    • It is located at an altitude of 2,450 metres on the Devasthal Observatory campus of the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) in Nainital district.
    • A large pool of mercury placed in a vessel is spun around so fast that it curves into a parabolic shape. Since mercury is reflective, this shape helps in focusing the reflected light.
    • Nearly 50 litres of mercury, weighing close to 700 kilograms, is spun hard to form a paraboloid mirror of just 4 mm thickness and a diameter of about 4 metres.
    • A thin sheet of mylar protects the mercury from the wind.
    • Once it starts making observations, the telescope will collect gigabytes of data, which will need to be analysed using artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI and ML) tools.

    It’s utility

    • The telescope will make sky surveys possible and obtain images that can help observe transient phenomena.
    • It will help analyse events such as supernovae and record the presence of space debris or meteorites — basically, watch the skies.

    What is the first image?

    • The first image made by the telescope consisted of several stars and a galaxy, NGC 4274, which is 45 million light years away.
    • The telescope, having a primary mirror that is liquid, cannot be turned and pointed in any direction.
    • It “stares” at the zenith and watches the sky as the earth rotates, thereby giving a view of different objects.
    • This property can be used to scan and survey the sky, and observe transients and moving objects such as meteorites.
    • It will work in tandem with the existing 3.6-metre Devasthal Optical Telescope.

     

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  • Sagittarius A*: Black Hole at the Centre of our Galaxy imaged

    Scientists from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) facility revealed the first image of the black hole at the centre of our galaxy i.e. the Milky Way.

    The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy that contains at least 100 billion stars. Viewed from above or below it resembles a spinning pinwheel, with our sun situated on one of the spiral arms and Sagittarius A* located at the centre.

    What is Sagittarius A*?

     

    • Pronounced Sagittarius ‘A’ star, it refers to the believed location of the supermassive black hole in the centre of our galaxy.
    • About 50 years ago, astronomers identified an area within the constellation of Sagittarius that was the strongest region of radio emission – thus making it the likely centre of the Milky Way.
    • It possesses 4 million times the mass of our sun and is located about 26,000 light-years—the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km)—from Earth.

    What is an event horizon?

    • Black holes are extraordinarily dense objects with gravity so strong that not even light can escape, making viewing them extremely challenging.
    • A black hole’s event horizon is the point of no return beyond which anything—stars, planets, gas, dust and all forms of electromagnetic radiation—gets dragged into oblivion.
    • The closer someone came to a black hole, the greater the speed they would need to escape that massive gravity.
    • The event horizon is the threshold around the black hole where the escape velocity surpasses the speed of light.

    What are the recent observations?

    • The image of Sagittarius A* (SgrA*) gave support to the idea that the compact object at the centre of our galaxy is indeed a black hole, strengthening Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
    • The image was obtained using the EHT’s global network of observatories working collectively to observe radio sources associated with black holes.
    • It showed a ring of light —super-heated disrupted matter and radiation circling at tremendous speed at the edge of the event horizon—around a region of darkness representing the actual black hole.
    • This is called the black hole’s shadow or silhouette.

    How did Einstein’s theory found its proof here?

    • According to Einstein’s theory, nothing can travel faster through space than the speed of light.
    • This means a black hole’s event horizon is essentially the point from which nothing can return.
    • The name refers to the impossibility of witnessing any event taking place inside that border, the horizon beyond which one cannot see.

    About EHT Facility

    • EHT project is a large telescope array consisting of a global network of radio telescopes.
    • It combines data from several very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) stations around Earth, which form a combined array.
    • It provides an angular resolution sufficient to observe objects the size of a supermassive black hole’s event horizon.
    • In 2019, the eHT facility made history by releasing the first-ever image of a black hole, M87* — the black hole at the centre of a galaxy Messier 87, which is a supergiant elliptic galaxy.

     

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  • ISRO’s goal for Venus Mission

    India’s Venus mission has been conceived. The project report for ‘Shukrayaan-I’ – the name given to ISRO’s Venus mission

    About Venus

    • Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary neighbor.
    • It’s one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s often called Earth’s twin because it’s similar in size and density.
    • Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and it’s perpetually shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulphuric acid that trap heat, causing a runaway greenhouse effect.
    • It’s the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.
    • Surface temperatures on Venus are about 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to melt lead.
    • Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface – more than 90 times that of Earth – similar to the pressure you’d encounter a mile below the ocean on Earth.

    Do you know?

    Venus rotates on its axis backward, compared to most of the other planets in the solar system. This means that, on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite to what we experience on Earth. (It’s not the only planet in our solar system with such an oddball rotation – Uranus spins on its side.)

    What is Shukrayaan-I Mission?

    • Shukrayaan will be India’s first orbiter mission to Venus after sending similar missions to the Moon and Mars.
    • The mission aims to study the surface of the hottest planet in our solar system and unravel the mysteries under the Sulphuric Acid clouds enveloping it.
    • The orbiter is the third mission announced to the inferno world of Venus after NASA announced two probes followed by a spacecraft by the European Space Agency.
    • The probes will investigate the world looking for clues to understand the destructive past of Earth’s mysterious twin, which scientists believe once had vast reserves of water similar to our planet.

    Stated objectives

    • Investigation of the surface processes and shallow sub-surface stratigraphy, including active volcanic hotspots and lava flows
    • Studying the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere
    • Investigation of solar wind interaction with the Venusian Ionosphere

    Delay with the launch

    • The ISRO is eyeing the December 2024 window for launch with orbital maneuvers planned for the following year.
    • This is when earth and Venus would be so aligned that the spacecraft could be put in the neighboring planet’s orbit using a minimum amount of propellant.
    • The next similar window would be available in 2031.

     

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  • Russia officially quits the International Space Station (ISS)

    Russia is responding to the Western sanctions. It has decided to walk out of the International Space Station.

    International Space Station

    • The ISS was launched in 1998 as part of joint efforts by the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
    • The idea of a space station originated in the 1984 State of the Union address by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
    • The space station was assembled over many years, and it operates in low-earth orbit.
    • Since its inception, it has served as a laboratory suspended in space and has aided multiple scientific and technological developments.
    • The ISS was originally built to operate for 15 years.

    Why was ISS launched?

    • A space station permits quantum leaps in research in science, communications, and in metals and lifesaving medicines which could be manufactured only in space.
    • ISS has consistently maintained human presence for the past 21 years, providing astronauts with sophisticated technologies for scientific research.

    What is Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS?

    • The ISS is built with the co-operation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
    • Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS.
    • Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support.
    • Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
    • They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back.
    • Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.

     

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  • SSLV ‘development flights’ likely in 2022

    The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is hoping to have all three development flights planned for its ‘baby rocket’ — the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) — in 2022 itself.

    What is SSLV?

    • The SSLV is a small-lift launch vehicle being developed by the ISRO with payload capacity to deliver:
    1. 600 kg to Low Earth Orbit (500 km) or
    2. 300 kg to Sun-synchronous Orbit (500 km)
    • It would help launching small satellites, with the capability to support multiple orbital drop-offs.
    • In future a dedicated launch pad in Sriharikota called Small Satellite Launch Complex (SSLC) will be set up.
    • A new spaceport, under development, near Kulasekharapatnam in Tamil Nadu will handle SSLV launches when complete.
    • After entering the operational phase, the vehicle’s production and launch operations will be done by a consortium of Indian firms along with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL).

    Vehicle details

    (A) Dimensions

    • Height: 34 meters
    • Diameter: 2 meters
    • Mass: 120 tonnes

    (B) Propulsion

    • It will be a four stage launching vehicle.
    • The first three stages will use Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) based solid propellant, with a fourth terminal stage being a Velocity-Trimming Module (VTM).

    SSLV vs. PSLV: A comparison

    • The SSLV was developed with the aim of launching small satellites commercially at drastically reduced price and higher launch rate as compared to Polar SLV (PSLV).
    • The projected high launch rate relies on largely autonomous launch operation and on overall simple logistics.
    • To compare, a PSLV launch involves 600 officials while SSLV launch operations would be managed by a small team of about six people.
    • The launch readiness period of the SSLV is expected to be less than a week instead of months.
    • The SSLV can carry satellites weighing up to 500 kg to a low earth orbit while the tried and tested PSLV can launch satellites weighing in the range of 1000 kg.
    • The entire job will be done in a very short time and the cost will be only around Rs 30 crore for SSLV.

    Significance of SSLV

    • SSLV is perfectly suited for launching multiple microsatellites at a time and supports multiple orbital drop-offs.
    • The development and manufacture of the SSLV are expected to create greater synergy between the space sector and private Indian industries – a key aim of the space ministry.

    Back2Basics:

     

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  • Why are blue straggler stars different from the norm?

    Researchers from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru have studied the eccentricities of blue straggler stars.

    What are Blue Straggler Stars?

    • A blue straggler is a main-sequence star in an open or globular cluster that is more luminous and bluer than stars at the main sequence turnoff point for the cluster.
    • Blue stragglers were first discovered by Allan Sandage in 1953 while performing photometry of the stars in the globular cluster M3.

    What did the Indian researchers study?

    • Eccentricity is the deviation of a planets’ or stars’ orbit from circularity — the higher the eccentricity, the greater the elliptical orbit.
    • For this, the researchers also made use of the observations by the UVIT instrument (Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope) of ASTROSAT, India’s first science observatory in space.

    (a) Stellar ageing of stars

    • To know what blue stragglers are, it is necessary to understand how stars are classified and their evolution, studied.
    • Our Sun, for example, is what is called a main sequence star, and, given its mass and age, it is expected that once it has converted all its hydrogen into helium, its core will get denser, while outer layers expand.
    • So, it will bloat into a red giant.
    • After this phase, its fuel spent, it will shrink, becoming a smaller, cooling star called a white dwarf star at the end of its life.

    (b) Sequencing of stars

    • To study the behaviour of the star, you could plot a graph of the colour of a star, which is an indication of its surface temperature, against its magnitude, which is related to the total energy given off by it.
    • If you do this for all the stars in a globular cluster, a large number of stars are seen to find a place within a band known as the main sequence.
    • Our Sun is a main sequence star, too, and the expectation is that all main sequence stars follow a pattern of evolution pretty much like our Sun’s fate, which was described earlier.
    • There are a few stars that, just at the stage of their lives, when they are expected to start expanding in size and cooling down, do just the opposite.
    • They grow brighter and hotter and blue in colour, thus standing out from the cooler red stars in their vicinity in the colour-magnitude diagram.
    • Since they lag behind their peers in the evolution, they are called stragglers, more specifically, blue stragglers, because of their hot, blue colour.

    Outcome of the research: Reasons for Blue Stragglers behaviour

    • The puzzle of why a blue straggler is more massive, and energetic than expected may be resolved in several ways.
    • One that these do not belong to the family of stars in the cluster, and hence are not expected to have the group properties.
    • Second, the straggler draws matter from the giant companion and grows more massive, hot and blue, and the red giant ends up as a normal or smaller white dwarf.
    • The third possibility is that the straggler draws matter from a companion star, but that there is a third star that facilitates this process.

     

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  • New research about Jupiter’s moon Europa

    A team of researchers from Stanford University have said that on one of Jupiter’s moons Europa, a prime candidate for life in the solar system might have abundance of water pockets beneath formations called double ridges.

    About Europa

    • Europa is slightly smaller than Earth’s moon and its diameter is about one-quarter that of the Earth.
    • Even though Europa has a very thin oxygen atmosphere, it is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to find present-day environments that are suitable for life beyond the Earth.
    • It is also believed that underneath Europa’s icy surface the amount of water is twice that on Earth.
    • NASA notes that scientists believe Europa’s ice shell is 15-25 km thick and is floating on an ocean, which is estimated to be 60-150 km deep.
    • Interestingly, while its diameter is less than the Earth’s, Europa probably contains twice the amount of the water in all of the Earth’s oceans.
    • NASA is expected to launch its Europa Clipper in 2024.
    • The module will orbit Jupiter and conduct multiple close flybys to Europa to gather data on the moon’s atmosphere, surface and its interior.

    What is the new finding?

    • It is already known that Europa, whose surface is mostly solid water ice, contains water beneath it.
    • The researchers are now saying that the double ridges – the formations which are most common on Europa’s surface and are similar to those seen on Earth’s Greenland ice sheet .
    • They are formed over shallow pockets of water.

    Significance of the recent findings

    • The central implication is that the shallow water pockets beneath the double ridge increase the potential habitability of the moon.
    • The ice shell, which is potentially miles thick, has been a difficult prospect for scientists to sample.
    • But according to the new evidence, the ice shell is believed to be less of a barrier and more of a dynamic system.
    • This means that the ice shell does not behave like an inert block of ice, but rather undergoes a variety of geological and hydrological processes.
    • This suggests active volcanism and thus a possibility for life.

     

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  • ISRO develops Space Bricks from Martian Soil

    Researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a way to make bricks from Martian soil with the help of bacteria and urea.

    Space Bricks

    • ISRO and IISc have collaborated to develop a novel scalable technique of manufacturing space bricks using Martian Simulant Soil (MSS).
    • The team first made the slurry by mixing Martian soil with guar gum, a bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii, urea and nickel chloride (NiCl2).
    • This slurry can be poured into moulds of any desired shape, and over a few days the bacteria convert the urea into crystals of calcium carbonate.
    • These crystals, along with biopolymers secreted by the microbes act as cement holding the soil particles together.
    • This method ensures that the bricks are less porous, which was a problem with other methods used to make Martian bricks.
    • The bacteria seep deep into the pore spaces, using their own proteins to bind the particles together, decreasing porosity and leading to stronger bricks.

    Their significance

    • In the past, the team had made bricks out of lunar soil using a similar method.
    • These ‘space bricks’ can be used to construct building-like structures on Mars that could facilitate human settlement on the red planet.

     

     

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  • GSLV-F10

    The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with improvements added to its cryogenic upper stage (CUS) is expected to be ready in the second half of this year.

    What is GSLV?

    • GSLV is an expendable space launch vehicle designed, developed, and operated by the ISRO to launch satellites and other space objects into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbits.
    • GSLV is 49.13 m tall and tallest among all other vehicles of ISRO.
    • It is a three-stage vehicle with a lift-off mass of 420 tonnes.
    • ISRO first launched GSLV on April 18, 2001 and has made 13 launches since then.

    Stages in GSLV

    • The first stage comprises S139 solid booster with 138-tonne propellant and four liquid strap-on motors, with 40-tonne propellant.
    • The second stage is a liquid engine carrying 40-tonne of liquid propellant.
    • The third stage is the indigenously built Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) carrying 15-tonne of cryogenic propellants.

    Variants in GSLV

    • GSLV rockets using the Russian Cryogenic Stage (CS) are designated as the GSLV Mk I while versions using the indigenous Cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS) are designated the GSLV Mk II.
    • All GSLV launches have been conducted from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

    Difference between PSLV and GSLV

    • GSLV has the capability to put a heavier payload in the orbit than the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).
    • PSLV can carry satellites up to a total weight of 2000 kg into space and reach up to an altitude of 600-900 km.
    • GSLV can carry weight up to 5,000 kg and reach up to 36,000 km.
    • PSLV is designed mainly to deliver earth observation or remote sensing satellites, whereas, GSLV has been designed for launching communication satellites.
    • GSLV delivers satellites into a higher elliptical orbit, Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO).

    Back2Basics: ISRO’s transportation modules

    (1) SLV

    • In the space transportation domain, the commissioning of the Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) project in the early 1970s was the first indigenous experimental satellite launch vehicle.
    • As a four stage, all solid, launch vehicle, SLV-3 had its successful launch in July 1980, thrusting India into the select league of six countries with the capability to launch satellites on their own.
    • The ASLV- Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle project, in the early 1980s, was the next step of evolution in launch vehicle technology.

    (2) PSLV

    • In mid 80s came the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) project. PSLV was successfully launched in 1994.
    • The vehicle has proven to be a workhorse of ISRO, logging over 50 successful missions, launching national as well as foreign satellites.
    • On 15 February 2017, PSLV created a world record by successfully placing 104 satellites.
    • The nation embarked upon a highly challenging quest to master the complex cryogenic technology.

    (3) GSLV

    Discussed above.

    (4) SSLV

    • The Small Satellites Launching Vehicles (SSLVs) used for commercial launching of small satellites is under incubation.
    • It is a small-lift launch vehicle being developed by the ISRO with payload capacity to deliver:
    1. 600 kg to Low Earth Orbit (500 km) or
    2. 300 kg to Sun-synchronous Orbit (500 km)
    • It would help launching small satellites, with the capability to support multiple orbital drop-offs.
    • In future a dedicated launch pad in Sriharikota called Small Satellite Launch Complex (SSLC) will be set up.

     

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