The document discusses several recent developments in space exploration and science:
1) NASA has selected SpaceX to develop the first commercial lunar lander for the Artemis program at a cost of $2.89 billion.
2) The Mars Perseverance rover successfully extracted oxygen from Mars' atmosphere, demonstrating a potential way to produce rocket fuel on Mars.
3) NASA's Ingenuity helicopter conducted the first powered flight on another planet when it took off from the surface of Mars in April 2021.
The document discusses several recent developments in space exploration and science:
1) NASA has selected SpaceX to develop the first commercial lunar lander for the Artemis program at a cost of $2.89 billion.
2) The Mars Perseverance rover successfully extracted oxygen from Mars' atmosphere, demonstrating a potential way to produce rocket fuel on Mars.
3) NASA's Ingenuity helicopter conducted the first powered flight on another planet when it took off from the surface of Mars in April 2021.
The document discusses several recent developments in space exploration and science:
1) NASA has selected SpaceX to develop the first commercial lunar lander for the Artemis program at a cost of $2.89 billion.
2) The Mars Perseverance rover successfully extracted oxygen from Mars' atmosphere, demonstrating a potential way to produce rocket fuel on Mars.
3) NASA's Ingenuity helicopter conducted the first powered flight on another planet when it took off from the surface of Mars in April 2021.
The document discusses several recent developments in space exploration and science:
1) NASA has selected SpaceX to develop the first commercial lunar lander for the Artemis program at a cost of $2.89 billion.
2) The Mars Perseverance rover successfully extracted oxygen from Mars' atmosphere, demonstrating a potential way to produce rocket fuel on Mars.
3) NASA's Ingenuity helicopter conducted the first powered flight on another planet when it took off from the surface of Mars in April 2021.
that is being led by NASA with multiple international and US domestic partners.
• primary goal of Artemis - to return humans including
women and astronaut of color to the Moon, specifically the lunar south pole, by 2025.
• (NASA) has picked Elon Musk’s SpaceX for its Artemis
programme, to develop the first commercial lander and take the next two US astronauts to the moon.
• The total value of this contract is $2.89 billion.
NASA’s Perseverance rover – Oxygen extracted from Mars NASA’s Perseverance rover – Oxygen extracted from Mars
• Experimental instrument aboard Perseverance called
the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) accomplished the task.
• Mars’ atmosphere is 96 percent carbon dioxide. MOXIE
works by separating oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide
• MOXIE is expected to extract oxygen at least nine
more times over the course of a Martian year (nearly two years on Earth).
• technology demonstration - instrument survived the
launch from Earth - a nearly seven-month journey through deep space and a touch down with Perseverance NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Takes Flight On Mars NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Takes Flight On Mars
• NASA successfully flew its tiny helicopter Ingenuity on
Mars -the first powered flight on another planet.
• Technology demonstrator – vertical take off, hovering and
landing. Ingenuity was on autopilot for its entire flight, out of sight, direct control, or contact with the controllers on Earth.
• The mini 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) copter even carried a bit of
wing fabric from the Wright Flyer that made similar history at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903.
• Another Wright Brother moment .
• Ingenuity’s first flight 39.1 seconds – 28 successful flights till
April 2022 NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Takes Flight On Mars
• The planet's atmospheric density is about 1⁄100 that of
Earth's at sea level, or about the same as 87,000 ft (27,000 m), an altitude never reached by existing helicopters.
• 121 cm × 49 cm (48 in × 19 in)
• 1.8 kilograms
• Solar-charged Li ion battery; typical engine input power:
350 watt
• 54 minutes, 16 seconds in 28 flights
• 6.98 km (4.34 mi) on Mars as of 29 April 2022
NASA - VIPER – mobile robot – Artemis
•NASA is planning to send its first mobile robot to the
Moon in late 2023 in search of ice and other resources on and below the lunar surface.
•Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or
VIPER will collect data that would help NASA map resources at the lunar South Pole that could one day be harvested for long-term human exploration at the Moon. NASA - ISRO to develop Earth System Observatory
• NASA is developing a new system called the Earth
System Observatory, to mitigate efforts related to climate change and disaster mitigation.
• NASA has also partnered with the Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO) which will provide NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR).
• NISAR will carry two radar systems to measure changes
in the Earth’s surface. NASA - ISRO to develop Earth System Observatory
• The ISRO-NASA joint mission NISAR (NASA-ISRO
Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite, is a dual-band (L-band and S-band) radar imaging mission to observe minor changes in land, vegetation and cryosphere.
• NASA is developing L-band SAR and associated
systems while ISRO is developing S-band SAR, spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle and associated launch services.
• The major scientific objectives of the mission are to
improve understanding of the impact of climate change on Earth’s changing ecosystems, land and coastal processes, land deformations and cryosphere. ESA to Launch ‘EnVision’ Mission to Venus in 2030
• EnVision probe of ESA will determine how and
why Venus and Earth evolved so differently, even while being in the habitable zone to the Sun.
• To study Venus, for holistic view of planet from its
inner core to upper atmosphere.
• ESA will undertake this mission with contributions
from NASA. NASA would provide a radar to image and map the surface.
• EnVision spacecraft will carry a range of instruments to
study the planet’s atmosphere and surface, monitor trace gases in the atmosphere and analyse its surface composition. Successful 3rd test of Vikas Engine for Gaganyaan Program
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has
successfully conducted the third long-duration hot test of the liquid propellant Vikas Engine for the core L110 liquid stage of the human-rated GSLV Mk III vehicle, as part of the engine qualification requirements for the Gaganyaan Programme. Europa Clipper mission
• NASA has selected California-based SpaceX to provide
launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
• The mission called ‘Europa Clipper mission is
scheduled to be launched in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Europa is estimated to have icy crust, sub surface
ocean and volcanic ocean floor. Europa Clipper mission
• NASA has selected California-based SpaceX to provide
launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
• The mission called ‘Europa Clipper mission is
scheduled to be launched in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• Europa is estimated to have icy crust, sub surface
ocean and volcanic ocean floor. Europa Clipper mission Europa Clipper mission
• Europa Clipper Mission is to investigate whether the
icy moon has conditions suitable for life, produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface, determine its composition, look for signs of recent or ongoing geological activity, measure the thickness of the moon’s icy shell, search for subsurface lakes, determine the depth and salinity of Europa’s ocean.
• Similarly, European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moon
Explorer (JUICE) is a mission to Ganymede that is due to launch in 2023 and will include two flybys of Europa Skyroot test fires Dhawan -1 India's first privately built cryogenic rocket engine
Dhawan-1
• The indigenous engine was developed using 3D
printing with a super alloy.
• It runs on two high-performance rocket propellants —
liquid natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LoX).
• This was after successfully designing and developing
the solid propulsion rocket engine, the first private firm in the country to do so. Skyroot
• Skyroot is working simultaneously on different stages
of both solid propulsion and liquid propulsion engines.
• It is named after eminent scientists, like Kalam (Abdul
Kalam) series for the former and Dhawan (Satish Dhawan).
• The launch vehicles are named after Vikram Sarabhai.
International Monsoons Project Office at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune
• Establishment of the IMPO emphasises the importance
of monsoons to the country’s economy.
• Under the guidance of the World Climate Research
Programme and the World Weather Research Programme, it would cover activities and relationships relating to international monsoon research that would be recognised and supported.
• The United Nations World Meteorological
Organization coordinates both the World Climate Research Programme and the World Weather Research Programme. International Monsoons Project Office at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune
• Establishing the IMPO in India would entail expanding
an integrated scientific approach to address monsoon seasonal variability, • improving monsoon and cyclone prediction skills, • strengthening monsoon research for better support operations and services, and • promoting knowledge sharing and capacity building in areas of monsoon research critical for agriculture, water resources and disaster management, hydropower, and climate-sensitive socio-economic sectors. CERN – European Organisation for Nuclear Research
• CERN was established in 1954. It has 23 member
states. Israel is the only non-European nation that has full membership in CERN. • India is the associate member of CERN and USA has observer status at CERN. • CERN is located in Geneva and it is an official Observer to the United Nations (UN). • Its most important function is to provide the particle accelerators and other related infrastructure required for high-energy physics research. • CERN operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Originally, the laboratory was solely used to study atomic nuclei. Later, it is also being used for research in higher-energy physics to study interactions between subatomic particles. LHC • Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful energy particle collider. • It is one of the particle accelerators present at CERN and it is a large-scale, international scientific collaboration project. • The tunnel of LHC is located 100 meters underground, between the Geneva International Airport and the Jura mountains. It consists of a 27-kilometer ring of superconducting magnets along with many accelerating structures to boost the particles’ energy. The project started in 2008 when the initial particle beams were injected into the LHC. • In 2012, scientists at CERN announced that they discovered a new sub-atomic particle. In 2013, it was confirmed that the newly found particle is a Higgs boson “God particle”. Neutrinos
• The neutrino is tiny, neutral, and weighs so little that
no one has been able to measure its mass.
• Neutrinos are the most abundant particles that have
mass in the universe.
• Every time atomic nuclei come together (like in the
sun) or break apart (like in a nuclear reactor), they produce neutrinos.
• Even a banana emits neutrinos—they come from the
natural radioactivity of the potassium in the fruit.
• Once produced, these ghostly particles almost never
interact with other matter. Neutrinos • Tens of trillions of neutrinos from the sun stream through your body every second, but you can’t feel them.
• Theorists predicted the neutrino’s existence in 1930,
but it took experimenters 26 years to discover the particle.
• Today, scientists are trying to determine the neutrino’s
mass, how it interacts with matter, and whether the neutrino is its own antiparticle (a particle with the same mass but opposite electric or magnetic properties) or not. FINAL THOUGHTS
UPSC tests your perseverance more than anything else.