Space exploration and technology

[plugwater]

Will love to be part of ISRO prog: NASA astronaut trainer

Bangalore: Michelle Ham, a trainer for astronauts at NASA, has expressed her willingness to extend her support to the ISRO's human space flight programme slated for 2015-16.

"I would be delighted and honoured," Michelle told PTI here today when asked if she was ready to take up the assignment if offered by the Indian Space Research Organisation.

"I would love to be part of the Indian space programme when you guys start sending people to space....," Michelle, who trains space station and space shuttle astronauts, said.

Besides the US space agency NASA, Michelle has trained astronauts of European, Japanese and Russian space agencies in past seven years.

Michelle, whose husband is a NASA astronaut, said she was ready to be of help in astronaut training in India but only for a "short time because there is so much of the world I would like to see".

According to ISRO officials, the space agency has already drawn an outline for astronaut training centre which would come up near Bangalore international airport at Devanahalli on the outskirts of the city.

Officials expect investment of about Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore for the training centre.

ISRO has already carried out a detailed study on the feasibility of undertaking the indigenous mission, with an aim to build and demonstrate the capability for carrying humans to low earth orbit and their return to earth.

The programme envisages development of a fully autonomous orbital vehicle carrying two or three crew members to about 300 km-low earth orbit and their safe return.

http://www.zeenews.com/news620700.html

 

[nandu]

SDO delivers first images of sun: NASA

A full-disk multiwavelength extreme ultraviolet image
of the sun taken by SDO on March 30, 2010. Photo:
NASA/Goddard/SDO AIA Team

NASA has released the first light images of sun taken by its recently launched spacecraft Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), on March 30th.

According to NASA, scientists have obtained a new capability to understand sun's dynamic processes.

SDO images have shown details of material streaming outward and away from sunspots.

The real activities on sun's surface were captured by the spacecraft. The spacecraft images brought the first high-resolution measurements of solar flares in a broad range of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

"These initial images show a dynamic sun that I had never seen in more than 40 years of solar research. SDO will change our understanding of the sun and its processes, which affect our lives and society. This mission will have a huge impact on science, similar to the impact of the Hubble Space Telescope on modern astrophysics,"said Richard Fisher, director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

NASA has launched the SDO spacecraft on February 11, 2010 for exploring sun. During its five-year mission, it will examine the sun's magnetic field and also provide a better understanding of the role the sun plays in Earth's atmospheric chemistry and climate.

SDO will provide images with clarity 10 times better than high-definition television and will return more comprehensive science data faster than any other solar observing spacecraft, the statement said.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/SDO-delivers-first-images-of-sun-NASA/3716/1/11.html

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://theasiandefence.blogspot.com/2010/01/indias-anti-ballistic-missile-program.html

India's Anti-Ballistic Missile Program Shifting to Accommodate Anti-Satellite Weapons

The goals for India's anti-ballistic missile (ABM) and ballistic missile defense (BMD) programs may be shifting to accommodate an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon more quickly than previously planned, and this could radically alter the agenda of US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who is currently in the middle of a three-day visit to India. "Memories in New Delhi run deep about how India's relative tardiness in developing strategic offensive systems [nuclear weapons] redounded in its relegation on 'judgment day' [when the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968] to the formal category of non-nuclear weapons state," said Sourabh Gupta, senior research associate at Samuels International Associates in Washington, DC.

"With its early support of the former US president George W Bush's ballistic missile defense program and its current drive toMdevelop anti-ballistic missile/anti-satellite capability, New Delhi is determined not to make the same mistake twice," added Gupta. "If and when globally negotiated restraints are placed on such strategic defensive systems or technologies - perhaps restraints of some sort of ASAT testing/hit-to-kill technologies - India will already have crossed the technical threshold in that regard, and acknowledgement of such status [will be] grand-fathered into any such future agreement."

After watching China's moves since the highly controversial satellite shootdown which China undertook in January 2007, India has now openly declared its desire to match China. ...........................India targets China's satellites

 

[nandu]

Hubble completes 20 years in space

Commemorating the 20th anniversary of its launch, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled a stunning new image of the Carina Nebula – one of the largest seen star birth regions of our galaxy.

The Carina Nebula - one of the vigorous star producing regions of the Milky Way galaxy,
has been captured by Hubble. A Hubble photo

Towers of cool hydrogen laced with dust rise from the wall of the nebula. The scene is reminiscent of Hubble's classic 'Pillars of Creation' photo taken in 1995, but the latest image is even more striking in appearance.

The image captures the top of a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being pushed apart from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks like arrows sailing through the air, NASA said.

Hubble was launched along with the STS-31 crew on April 24, 1990 to explore various facets of the Universe. The telescope, deployed in the low Earth orbit, has sent valuable data since then for use by cosmologists and astronomers.

To commemorate the occasion, NASA along with the Space Telescope Science Institute, has unveiled the latest image besides organizing online educational activities and an opportunity for people to explore galaxies
as armchair scientists.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/Hubble-completes-20-years-in-space/3726/1/11.html

 

[nandu]

World's biggest telescope to be located in Chile

A new architectural concept drawing of ESO's planned European Extremely Large
Telescope (E-ELT) shows the telescope at work, with its dome open and its record-setting
42-metre primary mirror pointed to the sky. Swinburne Astronomy Productions/ESO photo


European Extremely Large Telescope will be constructed on Cerro Armazones in the central part of Chile's Atacama Desert.

ESO plans to build a European extremely large optical/infrared telescope (E-ELT) with a primary mirror 42 metres in diameter, a statement issued by ESO said.

The E-ELT will be "the world's biggest eye on the sky" — the only such telescope in the world. The construction cost is estimated to be close to a billion Euros.

A BBC report said the next-generation observatory will be so powerful it will be able to image directly rocky planets beyond our Solar System.

It should also be able to provide major insights into the nature of black holes, galaxy formation, the mysterious "dark matter" that pervades the Universe, and the even more mysterious "dark energy" which appears to be pushing the cosmos apart at an accelerating rate, it said.

The final go-ahead for construction is expected at the end of 2010, with the start of operations planned for 2018.

The telescope has an innovative five-mirror design that includes advanced adaptive optics to correct for the turbulent atmosphere, giving exceptional image quality.

The main mirror will consist of almost 1000 hexagonal segments, each 1.4 metres across gathering 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today.

The E-ELT will thus be able to gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today. It will also provide images 15 times sharper than those from the Hubble Space Telescope.

European Southern Observatory (ESO) Council, the governing body of the Organisation, Monday, selected Cerro Armazones based on an extensive comparative meteorological investigation, which lasted several years.

Cerro Armazones is some 130 kilometres south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometres from Cerro Paranal, home of ESO's Very Large Telescope.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/Worlds-biggest-telescope-to-be-located-in-Chile/3746/1/11.html

 

[nandu]

StarTiger succeeds in producing perpetual eclipse in space

StarTiger-2 external coronagraph demonstrator during testing. A Laboratoire Astrophysique d'Marseille Photo.

PARIS : The Laboratoire Astrophysique d'Marseille (LAM) has been successful in developing a new type of space mission, targeting a mysterious segment of the Sun normally hidden in plain sight.

ESA's latest StarTiger project has demonstrated a way to produce a perpetual eclipse in space: fly two satellites in tight formation so that one casts a continuous shadow across the other.

Considering each satellite would be moving at multiple kilometres per second, the idea presents substantial problems in navigation and control terms. But success opens up the prospect of sustained access to inner zones of the Sun's corona, currently glimpsed from the ground only for a few minutes per year during total solar eclipses, according to a news report by ESA.

"ESA's StarTiger is a new R&D approach, one that has paid off handsomely here," commented Peter de Maagt, overseeing the StarTiger initiative.

The two satellites will fly 150 m apart, the first hosting a 'coronagraph' instrument while the second, 'occulter', casts a shadow across it with a maximum positioning error of a few millimetres. Photosensors around the coronagraph will monitor the shadow's position while an LED array on the occulter allows optical tracking from the observer satellite.

For the purposes of the scale-model, the simulated Sun, occulter and coronagraph were all on the same optic bench, with light reflected via a distant mirror to mimic the planned operating distance. This setup allowed complete end-to-end modelling of the proposed system.

The StarTiger coronagraph would perform spectral as well as spatial coronal monitoring, incorporating an innovative liquid-crystal-based spectrometer design and a 'smart' active pixel sensor (APS) detector covering the very wide dynamic range of coronal light levels. As part of the project's secondary objectives, both elements were also prototyped, as per the report.

StarTiger stands for 'Space Technology
Advancements by Resourceful, Targeted and Innovative Groups of Experts and Researchers.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/StarTi...ing-perpetual-eclipse-in-space/3754/1/10.html

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Novel_Nanoparticles_Prevent_Radiation_Damage_999.html

Novel Nanoparticles Prevent Radiation Damage

Tiny, melanin-covered nanoparticles may protect bone marrow from the harmful effects of radiation therapy, according to scientists at Albert Einstein
College of Medicine of Yeshiva University who successfully tested the strategy in mouse models.

Infusing these particles into human patients may hold promise in the future. The research is described in the current issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.

Radiation therapy is used to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. But because radiation also damages normal cells, doctors must limit the dose. Melanin, the naturally occurring pigment that gives skin and hair its color, helps shield the skin from the damaging effects of sunlight and has been shown to protect against radiation.

"A technique for shielding normal cells from radiation damage would allow doctors to administer higher doses of radiation to tumors, making the treatment more effective," said Ekaterina Dadachova, Ph.D., associate professor of nuclear medicine and of microbiology and immunology and the Sylvia and Robert S. Olnick Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research at Einstein, as well as senior author of the study.

In previously published research, Dr. Dadachova and colleagues showed that melanin protects against radiation by helping prevent the formation of free radicals, which cause DNA damage, and by scavenging the free radicals that do form.

"We wanted to devise a way to provide protective melanin to the bone marrow," said Dr. Dadachova. "That's where blood is formed, and the bone-marrow stem cells that produce blood cells are extremely susceptible to the damaging effects of radiation."

Dr. Dadachova and her colleagues focused on packaging melanin in particles so small that they would not get trapped by the lungs, liver or spleen. They created "melanin nanoparticles" by coating tiny (20 nanometers in diameter) silica (sand) particles with several layers of melanin pigment that they synthesized in their laboratory.

The researchers found that these particles successfully lodged in bone marrow after being injected into mice. Then, in a series of experiments, they investigated whether their nanoparticles would protect the bone marrow of mice treated with two types of radiation.

In the first experiment, one group of mice was injected with nanoparticles and a second group was not. Three hours later, both groups were exposed to whole-body radiation. For the next 30 days, the researchers monitored the blood of the mice, looking for signs of bone marrow damage such as decreased numbers of white blood cells and platelets.

Compared with the control group, those receiving melanin nanoparticles before radiation exposure fared much better; their levels of white cells and platelets dropped much less precipitously. Ten days after irradiation, for example, platelet levels had fallen by only 10 percent in mice that had received nanoparticles compared with a 60 percent decline in untreated mice. Furthermore, levels of white blood cells and platelets returned to normal much more quickly than in the control mice.

A second experiment assessed not only bone-marrow protection but whether the nanoparticles might have the undesirable effect of infiltrating and protecting tumors being targeted with radiation. Two groups of mice were injected with melanoma cells that formed melanoma tumors. After one group of mice was injected with melanin nanoparticles, both groups received an experimental radiation treatment designed by Dr. Dadachova and her colleagues specifically for treating melanoma.

This treatment uses a radiation-emitting isotope "piggybacked" onto an antibody that binds to melanin. When injected into the bloodstream, the antibodies latch onto the free melanin particles released by cells within melanoma tumors. Their isotopes then emit radiation that kills nearby melanoma tumor cells.

Following the second experiment, the melanoma tumors shrank significantly and to the same extent in both groups of mice - indicating that the melanized nanoparticles did not interfere with the radiation therapy's effectiveness. And once again, the melanized nanoparticles prevented radiation-induced bone-marrow damage: between the third and seventh day after the antibody-isotope radiation therapy was administered, mice injected with nanoparticles experienced a drop in white cells that was significantly less than occurred in mice not pre-treated with nanoparticles.

"The ability to protect the bone marrow will allow physicians to use more extensive cancer-killing radiation therapies and this will hopefully translate into greater tumor response rates," said Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology, the Leo and Julia Forchheimer Chair in Microbiology and Immunology, and a co-author of the study.

Some nanoparticles could still be found in bone marrow 24 hours after their injection, which shouldn't pose a problem. "Since the nanoparticles are rapidly removed by phagocytic cells, they're unlikely to damage the bone marrow," said Dr. Dadachova. "We didn't detect any side effects associated with administering the particles."

"These results are encouraging for other potential applications of melanin, including radioprotection of other radiation-sensitive tissues, such as the gastrointestinal tract," noted Andrew Schweitzer, M.D., formerly a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellow at Einstein and lead author of the study.

Clinical trials testing whether melanized nanoparticles might protect cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy could begin in two to three years, Dr. Dadachova predicted. She also noted that melanized nanoparticles might also have other applications, such as protecting workers charged with cleaning up nuclear accidents, protecting astronauts against radiation exposure in space, or even protecting people following a nuclear attack.

 

[nandu]

World's first solar spaceship to fly in May

In a first ever attempt, Japan will launch IKAROS – world's first solar powered spaceship next month.

An artist's rendition of Japan's solar yacht 'IKAROS'. A JAXA Photo

The IKAROS – Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun – will blast off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan on May 18 along with Venus climate orbiter 'AKATSUKI' on board an H-IIA F17 rocket.

The destination of the IKAROS is not specific but will be flown toward the Venus, Japanese Space agency JAXA said.

The spacecraft will be the world's first solar powered sail craft employing both photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise, the space agency said.

JAXA has designed the unique solar yacht which is made up of polyimide resin and is thinner than human hair – just 0.0075 mm.

Built at a cost of US$ 16 million, IKAROS will be in a short cylindrical shape during its launch and will then unfold its flexible 14-metre sail.

The spaceship will have thin film solar cells on its membrane. It will also be fitted with an altitude control device and scientific observation sensors.

The thin, light solar sail membrane will be deployed using centrifugal force of spinning the main body of the IKAROS before its tension is set.

The deployment will be in two stages. The first stage is carried out quasi-statically by the onboard deployment mechanism on the side of the main body. The second stage is the dynamic deployment. As this deployment method does not require a strut such as a boom, it can contribute to making it lighter and thus can be applied for a larger membrane.

If successful, this will be a unique achievement for any space agency to use solar energy to send a spacecraft to space.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/Worlds-first-solar-spaceship-to-fly-in-May/3772/1/11.html

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.spacedaily.com/

Scientists Finds Evidence Of Water Ice On Asteroid's Surface

Asteroids may not be the dark, dry, lifeless chunks of rock scientists have long thought.

Josh Emery, research assistant professor with the earth and planetary sciences department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has found evidence of water ice and organic material on the asteroid 24 Themis. This evidence supports the idea that asteroids could be responsible for bringing water and organic material to Earth.

The findings are detailed in the journal "Nature."

Using NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility on Hawaii's Mauna Kea, Emery and Andrew Rivkin of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Md., examined the surface of 24 Themis, a 200-kilometer wide asteroid that sits halfway between Mars and Jupiter.

By measuring the spectrum of infrared sunlight reflected by the object, the researchers found the spectrum consistent with frozen water and determined that 24 Themis is coated with a thin film of ice. They also detected organic material.

"The organics we detected appear to be complex, long-chained molecules. Raining down on a barren Earth in meteorites, these could have given a big kick-start to the development of life," Emery said.

Emery noted that finding ice on the surface of 24 Themis was a surprise because the surface is too warm for ice to stick around for a long time.

"This implies that ice is quite abundant in the interior of 24 Themis and perhaps many other asteroids. This ice on asteroids may be the answer to the puzzle of where Earth's water came from," he said.

Still, how the water ice got there is unclear.

24 Themis' proximity to the sun causes ice to vaporize. However, the researchers' findings suggest the asteroid's lifetime of ice ranges from thousands to millions of years depending on the latitude.

Therefore, the ice is regularly being replenished. The scientists theorize this is done by a process of "outgassing" in which ice buried within the asteroid escapes slowly as vapor migrates through cracks to the surface or as vapor escapes quickly and sporadically when 24 Themis is hit by space debris.

Since Themis is part of an asteroid "family" that was formed from a large impact and the subsequent fragmentation of a larger body long ago, this scenario means the parent body also had ice and has deep implications for how our solar system formed.

The discovery of abundant ice on 24 Themis demonstrates that water is much more common in the Main Belt of asteroids than previously thought.

"Asteroids have generally been viewed as being very dry. It now appears that when the asteroids and planets were first forming in the very early Solar System, ice extended far into the Main Belt region," Emery said.

"Extending this refined view to planetary systems around other stars, the building blocks of life - water and organics - may be more common near each star's habitable zone. The coming years will be truly exciting as astronomers search to discover whether these building blocks of life have worked their magic there as well."

The scientists' discovery also further blurs the line between comets and asteroids. Asteroids have long been considered to be rocky and comets icy. Furthermore, it was once believed that comets could have brought water to Earth. This theory was nixed when it was discovered comets' water has different isotopic signatures than water on Earth.

Now, due to Emery and Rivkin's findings, many wonder if asteroids could be responsible for seeding Earth with the ingredients for life.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/world/asia/13india.html

India and Russia Build Ties With Pacts

NEW DELHI — India and Russia signed a series of agreements on nuclear, space and military issues on Friday, after a visit by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
Related

Mr. Putin's visit, and the warm reception he received here from his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, represent a warming relationship between nations with a long history of friendship that has been challenged by India's increasingly cozy ties to the United States.

The agreements pave the way to build at least a dozen more Russian nuclear power plants for an energy-starved India, and to funnel more Russian weapons to India's military.

The countries also reached agreements to work together on space and fertilizer projects, two crucial areas for India, which has sought to send rockets into space even as its farmers, who make up about 70 percent of the population, struggle to coax subsistence from the soil.

As a pioneer of the Non-Aligned Movement, India was officially neutral in the cold war, but in practical terms it had a much closer relationship with the Soviet Union than it did with the United States, a country it viewed warily for ideological and geopolitical reasons.

In a post-cold-war world, India and Russia remain important allies. India buys the vast majority of its weapons from Russia, and has invested in Russian oil and gas in an effort to guarantee supplies to keep its rapidly growing economy going. The countries also make up half of the BRIC Group of rapidly growing economies, along with Brazil and China.

Mr. Putin met with top political and business leaders, speaking to a group of industrialists in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi via videoconference.

"Cooperation in high-tech is the priority for us," Mr. Putin told his audience. "The Russian government is ready to directly support this activity, with the help of additional financial assistance."

Russia is already building two nuclear power plants here, and Friday's agreement paves the way for a dozen more. The signing of the nuclear agreement with the United States in 2008 made it possible for India to buy civilian nuclear technology despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Since then firms in the United States, Europe and Russia have been vying to get in on lucrative contracts to build plants in the world's second fastest growing economy.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100331/158380524.html

India plans to launch 10 satellites annually - space chief

India is planning to launch an average of 10 satellites per year to meet the demand for various space applications, an Indian news agency said citing a top space official.

The current ambitions of the 47-year-old national space program could vastly expand India's international profile in space and catapult it into a space race with Russia, the United States and China.

"We are planning to launch 10 satellites per year, beginning fiscal year 2010-11 [starts April 1]," the IANS agency quoted Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan as saying.

"We have a series of satellites and launch vehicles at various stages of preparation," the scientist said.

For the past four decades, India has launched more than 50 satellites for various scientific and technological applications such as mobile communications, meteorological observations and disaster warning.

However, last year the ISRO could launch only three satellites - Oceansat-2, Risat-2 and Anusat - out of the planned five.

This year, the Indian space agency initially plans to launch the 2.2-tonne GSAT-4 onboard domestically-developed GSLV-D3 (geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle) in mid-April.

"Early in May, we plan to launch the polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV-C15) to carry Cartosat-2B, an Algerian satellite, and two micro satellites -- Youthsat from Canada and Studsat built by college students from Karnataka," K. Radhakrishnan said.

ISRO is also working on launching Earth remote-sensing satellites Resourcesat-2, Risat-1 and Mega-Tropiques and three communications satellites later this year.

"In fiscal 2011-12 we plan to launch about 10 satellites, including Saral, Insat-3D, GSAT-9, GSAT-12, GSAT-10P, IRNSS 1& 2 (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), Astrosat and Aditya-1," the official said.

NEW DELHI, March 31 (RIA Novosti)

 

[nandu]

A hefty star fleeing home at whirlwind speed spotted

The runaway star (inset) which has fled from its home, the 30 Doradus nebula. A Hubble photo

WASHINGTON : A massive star running away at breakneck speed from its cradled home of a stellar nursery after being "kicked out" by its heftier siblings has caught the attention of astronomers.

The 'homeless' star, rushing away from a giant star cluster at more than 250,000 miles an hour, has been detected in the outskirts of the 30 Doradus nebula, also called the Tarantula nebula, 170,000 light-years away from Earth. The nebula is a huge star breeding ground lying in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has caught the blue-hot star which is 90 times more massive than our Sun. The star's home – the R136 giant star cluster – is nestled in the core of 30 Doradus nebula and contains many stars topping 100 solar masses each.

Astronomers believe that the star has been rendered homeless after an encounter with other heavier stars in its home cluster.

A runaway star can be born either after an encounter with one or two heavier siblings in a massive, dense cluster and get booted out through a stellar game of pinball. Or, the star may get a 'kick' from a supernova explosion in a binary system, with the more massive star exploding first.

In the case of the new-found star, its home – the R136 giant star cluster – "is sufficiently young, 1 million to 2 million years old, that the cluster's most massive stars have not yet exploded as supernovae," according to Danny Lennon of the Space Telescope Science Institute.

"This implies that the star must have been ejected through dynamical interaction," Lennon said.

The 'wayward' star will continue to streak across space and will eventually end its life in a titanic supernova explosion, likely leaving behind a remnant black hole, said team member Paul Crowther of the University of Sheffield in England.

The new findings, led by Chris Evans of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, appear in the latest online edition of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

http://www.brahmand.com/news/A-hefty-star-fleeing-home-at-whirlwind-speed-spotted/3876/1/10.html

 

[codes]

i know isro can send manned missions to space. it is a great leap, buy why now ? show of strength to china or the world.
we are spending 1.2+ billion for sending a person to space, though it has long term benefits like base on moon etc,.
it i dont think this is the right time for this project, instead india should work on and build better and fuel efficient
satellite launch vechicles and send robotic missions to moon and other planets. also india should make better rockets
and get money by launching rockets at cheap cost, as to make isro's programs budget neary self sufficient, and the
money from government should be fully emplyoyed for r&d work.
for our manned mission we are getting technology from russia and buying the rocket. insted india can send its
scientists on a extended scientist exchange program or such with russia, to learn their technology, we gain more than
we may give away as russian space program is way head of ours. and also it can pave way for better streategic ties
with russia, which is currently sour due to our relation with us.
from our past relation with russia we know that they are more open than us.

 

[Phenom]

Space Missions are not just about science but public preception as well. Robotic missions can achieve a lot of things but one thing it can't achieve is capturing people's imagination.
We need the people of this country to know that India has arrived as a space faring nation, we need the children of this country to know the same, robots can't send such a powerful message. Chinese made that statement a few years ago, we should try to do it too, not to compete with them but just to make sure we don't fall behind.

 

[nandu]

Space shuttle Atlantis gears up for final launch

The space shuttle Atlantis blasts off on Friday on the last mission of its 25-year career, taking astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) one last time before becoming a museum piece.

The 32nd and final voyage for Atlantis, which was first launched in 1985, will take six astronauts to the orbiting space research facility, delivering an integrated cargo carrier and a Russian-built mini research module. Lift-off is scheduled for 1820 GMT from Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral in Florida, weather-permitting.

A poignant moment for NASA as the US space agency counts down towards the end of an era in human spaceflight, Atlantis will be retired on its safe return home. "The vehicle is in great shape... and from a Space Shuttle Program and ISS Program standpoint, we're ready to launch Atlantis and get this mission under way," NASA launch manager Mike Moses said yesterday. His team gave Atlantis a unanimous "go" for liftoff on mission STS-132 and weather forecasts were 70 per cent favourable, reflecting some concern over possible low cloud.

During a mission of almost 13 days, most of which will be spent moored to the ISS, Atlantis and the crew will deliver more than 12 tonnes of equipment, including power storage batteries, a communications antenna and a radiator. The biggest single element being transported is the five-ton Rassver research module, or MRM-1, which will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/69221/space-shuttle-atlantis-gears-up.html

 

[RAM]

India asks US for help in manned space programme


Here at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the ongoing countdown to the 132nd space shuttle launch is also counting towards the end of this iconic space programme. Washington has decreed that the Atlanta, which is scheduled to blast off on Friday, will be the third last shuttle mission ever. With a follow-on programme nowhere in sight, America's space shuttle pioneers stare at an uncertain future.President Barack Obama has decided that it is wasteful and risky to continue using the space shuttle for transporting US astronauts and stores to and from the International Space Station (ISS); instead, this low-tech, "near-earth" task should be farmed out to commercial agencies. The cutting-edge capabilities of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should be directed towards new frontiers in outer space. But there is no new space policy that spells out an alternative task. The US is now considering using cheap Russian launches for sending its astronauts to the ISS. Russia has warehouses full of decommissioned missile rockets called the RD-170; these are re-engineered into RD-180 rockets, which cost a tenth of America's.

But, for the longer term, the US is eyeing a closer linkage with the Indian space programme, something that New Delhi has already suggested to Washington. In February, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief K Radhakrishnan and K R Sridhara Murthi, MD of Isro's marketing arm, Antrix, met senior Boeing executives and suggested closer ties. Boeing is the OEM of the space shuttle. Senior Indian leaders and diplomats, including Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, have persistently pressed for closer US-India space cooperation.

Now, senior executives from Boeing Defence, Space and Security (BDS) have divulged the details of cooperation that Isro has sought for building up India's capacity for manned space missions. Kevin Hoshstrasser, the head of Boeing's operations at the Kennedy Space Centre in Orlando, Florida, reveals that Isro has sought assistance in four specific areas:A launch escape system (LES) to enable astronauts to escape from a rocket that is undergoing catastrophic failure. Last week, Boeing successfully tested their latest escape vehicle.

A life support and environmental control system, which creates an environment inside the space capsule in which astronauts can comfortably carry out their functions. This removes carbon dioxide and maintains humidity levels. Vehicle Health Monitoring System (VHMS), which keeps a constant check over key systems. Reusable space systems and composition cryogenic tanks. These tanks would be used to store fuel for India's cryogenic motors. Senior Boeing executives are in contact with Isro and Boeing has prepared an internal white paper on US-India space cooperation. For discussing substantive, and potentially classified, issues with Isro, Boeing has applied to the US government for a Technical Assistance Agreement.

Boeing's Business Development Senior Manager for space systems, Sam Gunderson, is emphatic that Boeing wishes to partner Isro and in building Indian space systems. Brushing away concerns about US export licencing, Gunderson says, "Dual use restrictions (under the US law: International Traffic in Arms Regulations) in space cooperation would be significant, but we can find a way to work around those."Space partnership has gained momentum since the US-India nuclear pact. In 2009, Isro invited Boeing to a conference in India on robotics. The moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, carried NASA sensors made by Boeing.

As the countdown continues at the Kennedy Space Centre, the excitement that suffuses a shuttle launch is tinged with disappointment at the impending closure of the shuttle programme. Scientists explain that no rocket in the world can send up 7 astronauts to the ISS for extended missions, and also carry 25 tonnes of bulky cargo. The space shuttle is made even more invaluable by its ability to bring back tonnes of cargo to earth from the space station, material that would otherwise be wasted.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/india-asks-us-for-help-in-manned-space-programme/395015/

 

[nitesh]

Global Indian Navigation System (GINS) on cards

Global Indian Navigation system on cards

Statutory filing for frequency spectrum.

Madhumathi D.S.

Bangalore, May 13

The US rules the world with it, Russia has had it and Europe is firming up its own.

Now an ambitious Indian 'GPS' stretching all across the globe has been conjured up.

GINS or the Global Indian Navigation System, when it happens, will give India an entry into the commercially and militarily powerful world of positioning and timing of all things on earth, sea, air or space.

GINS, it is learnt, is meant to be a constellation of at least 24 satellites arching across the globe at a distance of 24,000 km.

These will offer an Indian brand of precise location advices to those who want it, much like the US Global Positioning System.

The statutory filing for frequency spectrum of GINS satellite orbits, which projects India's requirement in a specific international space, has been done.

"The concept is still being studied in detail. But GINS will not be happening in the near future," said Dr Surendra Pal, till recently Associate Director at ISRO Satellite Centre, and who spearheaded the sat-nav programme from its start.

"ISRO is currently concentrating on GAGAN (the three-satellite GPS augmentation scheme) and the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System," he told Business Line.

The way it can impact everyday life is vast, he said. In the US and Europe, a GPS receiver is indispensable on cars and trucks.

Ships need them to find their way perfectly to their destination.

As do airlines' pilots who depend upon GPS for smooth navigating, landing and take-offs.

At times of disasters, rescue agencies have saved lives using the accurate time and location given by the GPS.

Yet, the GPS, created, owned by the US military and allowed for a few civilian services, cannot be taken for granted, Dr Pal said while speaking at an event organised recently by the Institution of Engineering and Technology of the UK.

For example, the time and position details can be adjusted to the detriment of adversaries of the US, as it happened during the second US-Iraq war. The disastrous consequences can only be imagined, he said.

According to Dr Pal, more global constellations meant better accuracy of information, reliability, as also availability of satellites over an area.

However, for civil aviation, GAGAN, once in use, would vastly improve readings for place and time for now.

Global system

A global system such as GINS would be a natural step for the country after it got the national-level GAGAN ready for operation in a couple of years and was preparing to put the GPS-independent Rs 1,600-crore, seven-satellite IRNSS in place between 2011 and 2014.

According to Dr Pal, more global constellations meant better accuracy of information, reliability, as also availability of satellites over an area.

However, for civil aviation, GAGAN, once in use, would vastly improve readings for place and time for now.

Considering that GPS, which came up in 1978, cost $20 billion and Europe's proposed Galileo estimated at $9 billion, GINS may cost at least in millions and take a long time before approvals and funds came, he said.

Russia's GLONASS with 24 satellites is crippled and being replenished with a role for ISRO. Dr Pal said accurate positioning will help all movements on land, sea or in air; it can be used in mining, fishing, aviation and to plan road, rail and infrastructure projects.

It can be used in forest survey, border mapping, synchronisation of power grids, monitoring the health of tall buildings, and even to mark out epidemic zones.

It can keep tabs on militancy, guide missiles to targets. Combined with remote sensing data, it can be used to make 3D maps.

Banks can now transfer money in real time since they started using the coordinated global navigation satellite systems times worldwide, he said.

Currently Dr Satish Dhawan Professor at ISAC, Dr Pal is in the UN panel of experts on GNSS, which will ensure seamless coordination and activities using the multiple systems.

Meanwhile, the next satellite carrying the GAGAN navigation payload will be in orbit by this year-end, followed by two others with this payload.

The full GAGAN system sponsored by ISRO and the Airports Authority of India mainly to benefit the civil aviation sector would be in place by 2013, Dr Pal said. GSAT-4, the first satellite carrying the navigation payload, was lost in a failed launch on April 15.

 

[ajtr]

did india dropped GLONASS plans with russia???

 

[nitesh]

did india dropped GLONASS plans with russia???

No the plan is not dropped the GINS is for total independent Indian system

 

[nandu]

Program that helps Indian defence technologies reach a global marketplace

Program that helps Indian defence technologies reach a global marketplace

17 May 2010 8ak: A U.S. small business survey clarified earlier myths and stated that 33% of new businesses will fail in the first two years and 56% in the first 4. It is not the lack of a market for the product, rather a key reason is the lack of knowledge and/or funds for an effective marketing program.

For Indian technology innovators, there is an interesting program that will take them global. 8ak spoke to Lockheed Martin, the key sponsor and Zeus Numerix, one of the few recipients of the award in the defence segment, about how the program helped them.

The DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Programme 2009 is backed by the Department of Science and Technology - Govt. of India (DST), Lockheed Martin Corporation, Indo-US Science & Technology Forum, FICCI and the IC2 Institute -University of Texas at Austin.

The aim of the program is to help Indian innovators with promising early-stage technologies find markets in the United States and other locations around the world. It focuses on teaching and use of world-class commercialization strategies.

8ak Editor, Manu Sood asked (via email) Mr B.K. Gupta, Founder Zeus Numerix about how the program had benefited them.

Gupta: The Program has given us tremendous visibility at virtually no cost. Aftermath of the program provided us with a pan India partner in sales and helped us getting the Dept of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR) recognition as R&D company. Bigger companies in India and Abroad started taking us seriously as none other than FICCI and Lockheed Martin has endorsed us.

Sood: What technologies will it help develop?

Gupta: We have now upgraded ourselves from being an engineering simulation software company to a company doing core design and development of complex products. We have signed an agreement with Godrej for manufacturing of designed components. We can now provide turnkey products to our armed forces involving design, manufacturing, testing and delivery in bulk quantity.

Sood: For which armed forces, what market gap is being addressed?

Gupta: We are catering to all the strategic sector viz three services, DRDO laboratories, Space laboratories, Nuclear Laboratories. Almost all technologies developed by us come under the Sanctions regime and hence we have provided an alternative to those technologies. Typical useful projects we have done for defense would be "Fighter Aircraft Aerodynamic Analysis", "Design of Landing gear of Unmanned Aircraft", "Design of Silence of Machine Gun", "Estimation and Prevention of corrosion for Marine Vessels", "Aerodynamics of Intake of Space Vehicle", "Safety of Nuclear Reactor" and many more. (Please note that we need to maintain confidentiality of these projects, hence the actual titles are not given).

Sood: What are the advantages and drawbacks in applying for the program?

Gupta: The program gives you access to best Marketing talent in the world from IC2 Institute. Innovators have to unlearn and relearn many things before they start marketing and this program helps in that. Program helps successful companies in making collaboration and lends credibility to new innovators. Program can do more in helping companies forge international collaborations.

Sood: Any other information you would like to share with other innovators?

Gupta: Participating in the Program is FREE and gives access to best faculty in Marketing. Faculty provides us with a Quick Look report on innovation and hence warns us about pitfalls and weaknesses. It leads to networking with other Innovators and Government officials. We (you!) must participate in this program. (-- end of interview --).

Lockheed states that since its introduction in India, the programme has received an overwhelming response from innovators, inventors, scientists and researchers working across diverse sectors throughout the country. The programme is currently running in its third year after the successful culmination of the first and second years of the programme with the signing of 13 and 24 commercialization deals respectively.

The DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Programme achieved another milestone in August 2009 with the signing of 22 commercialization deals by the winners of this unique nation-wide initiative. The deals signed at the Hyderabad Technology Expo included six deals signed with international companies, placing the winners on a global platform.

Many of the programme winners and those signing the commercialization deals had technologies that dealt with medical and environmental initiatives. These included a chemical catalyst based process that converts hydrocarbon based material into fuels; a technology to convert algae into diesel fuel; nano polymer coating on coronary stents; heart sound analyzer; and a technology to create more efficient and reliable blades for generating wind power.

For the year 2010 programme a total of 394 (as compared to 325 last year) have been received. 31 technologies have been short-listed for the final competition . Of these 14 technologies will win medals. The program will start taking applications later in the year but their website is IndiaInnovates.

http://www.8ak.in/8ak_india_defence...rogram-took-their-technology-global.html#more