India launches 4th Navigation Satellite - IRNSS-1D on 28th March, 2015 sucessfully

The fourth navigation satellite, IRNSS-1D was launched by India on saturday evening at 05:19 hrs IST ( 28th March, 2015).  The ISRO's work horse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV gave the country and the ISRO yet another text book launch which lifted off from Sriharikota exactly at 17:19 hrs IST.   The spacecraft was placed into its intended orbit.  

The launch was earlier scheduled for Mach 9, 2015 but was postponed to March 28, 2015 due to technical reasons.  The PSLV-C27 used the 'XL' version of PSLV like the earlier three launches of IRNSS satellites.  This is the 8th time an 'XL' version of PSLV is being flown.  IRNSS-1D is the first orbital launch of the year 2015.

The IRNSS-1D will join the three other satellites already in orbit.  The IRNSS-1D is the fourth in a planned seven satellite constellation which will provide India and its surrounding region with an independent satellite navigation services. 

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) operating in geosynchronous orbit has been under development by ISRO since 2006 with the first satellite reaching orbit in mid 2013.  The IRNSS constellation calls for three geostationary satellites and four more in inclined geosynchronous orbits.   The geostationary slots, located at 34, 83 and 132 degrees East will each be occupied by a single satellite, while the two inclined stations, at 55 and 111.75 degrees East will each be home to a pair of spacecraft.

When finished, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System ( IRNSS ) will consist of seven satellites in Geostationary and Geosynchronous orbits covering India and surrounding areas to provide India with independent access to navigation data without depending on foreign programs like GPS or GLONASS.

The IRNSS system is designed to be compatible with the US Global Positioning System and Europe's Galileo constellation using navigation signals in S-Band and at L5 band.  The IRNSS satellites will cover only India and its surroundings with high accuracy services available about 1500 Kilometers beyond the Indian region.

Saturday's launch was preceded by a 59.5-hour countdown sequence that started at 0:19 UTC on Thursday morning and included all the necessary events to load the PSLV with propellants and prepare all systems on the launcher and the ground for the launch. 

Flying in its XL configuration, PSLV consists of the standard PS1 first stage that has six stretched boosters attached to it and a liquid-fueled second stage atop which sits the solid third and the dual-engine liquid-fueled fourth stage. Overall, the rocket stands 44.5 meters tall, has a diameter of 2.8 meters and a liftoff mass of 320,000 Kilograms. 

Here is a video showing the activities during the launch of PSLV-C27.

Curiosity Rover finds strong evidence of ancient lake on MARS surface

Those people who are eagerly monitoring the Curiosity Rover activities on MARS definitely may be knowing about Mount Sharp - a mountain on MARS and primary target of Curiosity Rover of NASA.  The Mount Sharp was built by sediments deposited in a large lake bed over tens of millions of years - says rover science team.

The Mount Sharp also known as Aeolis Mons officially forms the central peak within a very large crater called as Gale Crater which is 155 Km in diameter.  The Mount Sharp is 5 Km tall, its lower flanks exposing hundreds of rock layers.  The rock layers - alternating between lake river and wind deposits - bear witness to the repeated filling and evaporation of a lake much larger than any previously examined close-up.

The NASA team of scientists are exploring to solve the mystery of Mount Sharp.  Where there is a mountain now, there may have been a series of lakes in the past - says one of the team member, Dr. John Grotzinger.

The Curiosity rover is now investigating the lowest sedimentary layers of Mount Sharp, a section of rock 150 meters high.  Rivers carried sand and silt to the lake depositing the sediments at the mouth of the river to from deltas similar to those found at river mouths on Earth. 

“As Curiosity climbs higher on Mount Sharp, we will have a series of experiments to show patterns in how the atmosphere and the water and the sediments interact. We may see how the chemistry changed in the lakes over time.”    “This is a hypothesis supported by what we have observed so far, providing a framework for testing in the coming year.”  Dr Grotzinger said.

NASA's Curiosity finds life's building blocks on MARS surface

The Curiosity rover of NASA has found organic chemicals which are the carbon-containing building blocks of life on the Red Planet - MARS.  The discovery does not confirm the existence of life on MARS or has existed earlier on MARS.  But this marks the first time that organics have been confirmed on MARS.  The Curiosity Project Scientist Mr. John Grotzinger of California Institute of Technology said "This is really a great moment for the Mission".  

The SAM ( Sample Analysis at MARS ) instrument has detected chlorobenzene and several other carbon compounds containing chlorine in the samples from a rock called "Cumberland" which was drilled by Curiosity in May, 2013.

The SAM instrument uses a tiny oven to cook the samples, and then analyze the gases that come out.  The NASA scientists say that it is impossible at present whether the Cumberland organics were produced by living organisms.  But this discovery will definitely help them to guide the planning efforts for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover mission which aims to collect samples on MARS to be returned to Earth.  

The NASA scientists also discovered the detection of methane levels in MARS atmosphere.  Curiosity landed on MARS in August, 2012.  It is now exploring the foothills of Mount Sharp, which rises 5.5 Kilometers above the surface of MARS from the center of the huge Gale crater.

ISRO Successfully launches its heaviest launch vehicle GSLV MARK-III

ISRO successfully tested the atmospheric re-entry of a crew module after its heaviest launch vehicle GSLV Mark-III lifted off from Sriharikota on 18th December, 2014.  This success helps India to realize its ambition to send humans into space.


The Crew module separated exactly after 5.4 minutes after lift-off at 09:30 AM IST from the second launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota.  The module separated from the rocket at a height of 126 Km and re-entered into earth's atmosphere.  The Crew module safely splashes down into the sea near Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The Crew module descended in a ballistic mode and splashed down in Bay of Bengal around 180 Kms away from Indira point, the southern tip of Andaman and Nicobar islands.  The LVM3-X rocket with active S200 and L110 propulsion stages and a passive C25 stage with dummy engine carried the CARE ( Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment ) as its payload.

The Crew module weighs 3.7 tonnes and it is a 2.7 meter tall cup cake shaped with a diameter of 3.1 meters.  The module which features aluminum alloy internal structure with composite panels and ablative thermal protection systems, was made to safely drop down into the sea by specially made parachutes.  The experiment witnessed the largest parachute in action every made in the country.  The main parachute which helped the Crew module touch the waters at a speed of 7 meters per second was 31 meters in diameter.

The GSLV Mark-III accelerated the CARE module to a velocity of around 5.3 kilometers per second ( 12,000 miles per hour ) and a projected apogee of 126 kilometers which was achieved at the time of separation of the stage.  The CARE module activated its control systems immediately after separating from the rocket.  

Here is a video of the GLSV Mark-III launch.

NASA installs the first zero gravity 3D printer in International Space Station

NASA has successfully installed the World's first zero gravity 3D printer on the International Space Station to help the astronauts experiment with additive manufacturing in micro gravity.  

NASA astronaut Barry Wilmore installed the 3D printer, designed and built by Made In Space, inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on the ISS.  The printer was launched in September aboard the SpaceX 4 resupply mission to the ISS.

Philae lander lands on the comet

A small robotic lander released from European Space Agency's Rosetta probe touched down on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on wednesday 12th November, 2014 after 7-hour descent, by gently colliding and tumbling to the surface of the comet.  

The Philae lander hit the surface of two and half mile wide comet at a speed of 2 miles per hour.  The gravity on the comet is 1,00,000 times less than that of on earth.  Shortly after its deployment, Philae sent the first photo of the comet. 

This is one of the great success for ESA which launched Rosetta spacecraft more than 10 years ago from the Kourou launch port in French Guiana.  After launching in March, 2004 the spacecraft and Philae lander travelled more than 6 billion kilometers to catch up the comet which orbits the sun at speeds of upto 1,35,00 Km per hour

Here is a video about Philae lander by ESA.

Robotic Probe landing on a comet for the first time next week

European scientists and engineers are getting ready for a soft landing of a robotic probe on the surface of a comet for the first time.  This will happen next week.

The ESA's spacecraft "Rosetta" is just a few days away from releasing its Philae lander onto the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.  Scientists are getting to soft land the lander on 12th November,2014 on the surface of the comet.  

If the mission is successful, the Philae landing will be the first time humans have ever soft landed a probe on a comet's surface.  The lander will study the surface of the comet and the Rosetta probe will study the comet from the orbit.  

It is not easy to land the lander on the surface of the comet.  It has taken 10 years for the probe to catch up with the comet.  A number of specific commands must be executed in order to ensure that Rosetta does not crash into the comet and Philae will arrive at its landing site safely.  Rosetta should release the Philae when the two spacecrafts are flying about 22.5 kilometers from the center of the comet.  The scientists have to wait 10 hours before finding out whether the landing would be successful. 

The scientists and the teams are fully prepared to accomplish the difficult task of landing Philae on comet.  TheRosetta is expected to stay with the comet as it makes its closest approach with the sun in August, 2015.  The spacecraft will beam back scientific data to Earth which could help scientists understand about comets and early solar system. The instruments on Rosetta already revealed that comets smell like rotten eggs. 

The Rosetta was launched to space in 2004 on a  6.4 billion kilometers journey to the comet.  It has reached the comet in August, 2014.  Here is an artist's impression of Philae lander on the surface of comet.



Here is a video showing how the Rosetta will land the Philae lander on the comet.