ISRO General News and Updates

[Indx TechStyle]

Isro Says Chandrayaan II Will Be Indigenous, Take Minor Help From US

Opting to go solo in its ambitious Chandrayaan II project, India has decided not to take Russia on board and keep the mission completely indigenous with "minor" help from the US.
Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said Chandrayaan II, having an indigenously built Lander and Rover, will be launched by December 2017 or first half of 2018. The spacecraft will also have instruments that will collect samples and send the data back to earth.

Chandrayaan, the country's Lunar Exploration Programme, is an ongoing series of outer space missions by the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro).

In its Chandrayaan Mission I, Isro was able to make the important discovery of water on the earth's sole satellite.

India has now jettisoned Russia in the Chandrayaan II project and would be embarking upon an indigenous venture but with a bit of help from the United States.

During 2010, it was agreed that Russian Space AgencyRoscosmos would be responsible for lunar Lander and Isro for Orbiter and Rover as well as Launch by GSLV. Later, due to a shift in the programmatic alignment of the mission, it was decided that the Lunar Lander development would be done by Isro and Chandrayaan-II will be a totally Indian mission.

"There were issues with the Russian Lander and they had said it would need some more testing. In the meantime, we decided to develop it indigenously," said a senior Isro official.

Although indigenous, Isro will be taking services of Nasa for the project.

"You cannot track satellite from one location...because of that you need support from other locations. With Nasa the collaboration is restricted to its services from the Deep Space Network for Chandrayaan purpose. We are not using Russian help in this project," Kumar said.

Isro's space cooperation with Nasa has been growing over the past few years. Interestingly, the collaboration between the two agencies had come to a halt after nuclear tests done by India in 1974 and 1998. But with relations between the two countries improving, the cooperation between the space agencies too have increased.

The two are also collaborating on their project on Mars.

On the other hand, although India is going solo in the Chandrayaan project, it has been collaborating with Russia on different projects.

"In future, for semi-cryogenic engine some facilities are required to carry out the tests. So we are still looking at possibilities of working with them. All space agencies have realised that unless we work together many of the missions cost cannot be shared," Kumar said.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

4 Brilliant Ways Space Technology by ISRO Can Help Save Lives of Soldiers in Siachen
For Indian soldiers serving on Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battleground, extreme weather turns out to be more dangerous and fatal than enemy bullets. To fight this situation and provide life-saving equipment to our soldiers, the Indian Space Research Organizations (ISRO) is working on developing space technology in a way that it can be used by the armed forces too. Several developments by ISRO’s space research centre, the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), can help save lives at such great heights where living conditions are difficult. According to K Sivan, a rocket scientist and Director of VSSC, the technologies developed for space application can easily be tweaked for other societal uses. Here are some of the ongoing developments:

1. Silica Aaerogel

Source: Wikimedia
Silica aerogel is an ultra-light weight material that acts as an insulator. The aerogel is a solid material with a complex matrix that encloses 99 percent air, thus acting as a thermal insulator. According to Naga Priya, a scientist at VSSC who is part of the team that made this material, the lab is having discussions with Indian Ordnance Factory that makes clothes for the soldiers to figure out if silica aerogel can be added between layers of cloth. According toreports, it is the lightest artificial material in the world, and is not completely ready for use as of now.

2. Handheld search and rescue radio signal emitter

Source: Twitter
Satellites can detect these small and portable signal emitters, which can help locate missing soldiers in remote locations. Soldiers and trekkers can activate these handheld devices using a button. Once activated, it starts emitting a radio beacon that satellites can detect and the exact position of the person can be found using GPS.

VSSC has also developed another similar, but slightly larger device for use by fishermen. The device is triggered when it comes in contact with salt water, or can be triggered manually as well. It transmits a pulsed signal for at least 65 hours at a stretch. ISRO has used this device to save many trekkers and can help the Indian Armed Forces to locate remote locations too.

3. Portable fuel cell system

Source: Twitter
Scientists at VSSC have developed this system to produce electricity directly from fuel with the help of an electrochemical process that requires only hydrogen gas and air as inputs. It can generate up to about 100 watts of power. The device can help in locations where uninterrupted maintenance-free power supply is difficult to obtain. Currently, it is being tested in Dehradun.

4. Automatic camera for surveillance

Source: Flickr
ISRO is also planning to use G-SAT-6 satellite’s multimedia communication capability for setting up surveillance systems in remote locations to keep an eye on infiltrators. Fuel cells can supply power to the automatic, remotely-operated cameras, which will send pictures to Indian satellites and from there to the soldiers.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO's space technology can save lives of soldiers at Siachen

In the past three years, at least 41 soldiers have lost their lives at the Siachen Glacier, according to the Ministry of Defence.
From Pallava Bagla

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The bigger killer on the heights of Siachen Glacier is not enemy bullets from Pakistan Armybut the extreme weather. Fewer soldiers would die if some of the technologies developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for use in space are quickly and effectively deployed for protecting our soldiers.

ISRO has developed the world's lightest insulating material and also high-powered search and rescue beacon technologies that can touch and save lives of Indian soldiers serving on the world's highest battleground.

In the past three years, at least 41 soldiers have lost their lives at the Siachen Glacier, according to theMinistry of Defence. Since 1984 when India occupied the icy heights, about 1,000 soldiers have died on the glacier and as per official records, only 220 of these have been felled by enemy bullets. At those heights of 6000-7000 m, extreme weather is the bigger killer.

If only our soldiers get access to some of the latest developments from Indian labs many lives could be saved. Then there is lethargy on both sides, scientists find it hard to transfer technology to the industry and the industry complains that half-baked products are passed on, hence the failure rate is very high.

Despite upgrades, Indian soldiers still wear very heavy clothes, now scientists at ISRO have developed an ultra-light weight material that acts as an effective insulator. Another game changer could be the hand held 'search and rescue' radio signal emitter that can be detected by satellites. This can help in effective pinpoint of the location of soldiers lost or buried in avalanches.

K Sivan, well-known rocket scientist and Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in Thiruvananthapuram, says with a little tweaking, these materials and technologies developed for hi-tech space applications can easily be spun off for societal use.

"ISRO uses tax payer money so it is answerable to the Indian public," he says.

ISRO's rockets and satellites certainly help people but there are many more developments hidden in the 'temples of technology' like the VSSC that can be used to save lives.

If some of these technologies were being used possibly Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad and the nine other soldiers who lost their lives earlier this year at the Siachen Glacier could well have been saved. If only these soldiers were using clothing made of the 'silica aerogel' they may possibly have been saved from freezing to death. Similarly, if the soldiers were equipped with suitable hand held 'search and rescue' devices, their location could have been easily pin-pointed using Indian satellites and rescue efforts could have been speeded up.

Recently India's main lab that specialises in making rockets for the country mastered the art of making the 'world's lightest artificial material' called 'silica aerogel'. This aerogel is actually a solid but within its complex matrix it encapsulates 99 per cent air. This gives it several unique properties-- it is incredibly light, it is a great thermal insulator.

Naga Priya, scientist in Advanced Materials & Ceramics Division at VSSC who is part of the team that made this material, explains that the process to make the silica aerogel is highly guarded so standardising the procedure to make the aerogel took her team a lot of effort.

The team hopes to use some of the 'silica aerogel' for insulating the tanks that hold the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the cryogenic engines. Since it is lightweight, it could also be used in designing the space suits that future Indian astronauts may be wearing. The small buggy that will be part of the Chandrayaan-2 and will run around the lunar surface in 2018 could also see the use of the 'silica aerogel' as an insulator.

Naga Priya explains her lab is already in discussion with the Indian Ordnance Factory that manufactures clothes for the soldiers to see how this new material can be sandwiched between layers of cloth for making light weight parkas, socks and gloves for the soldiers who are posted at Siachen.

The Indian space scientists have already made small pieces of the silica aerogel that resemble a fabric but still it is very fragile and suitable fabric has to be developed that can effectively sandwich this great insulator.

There are other societal benefits of using the 'silica aerogel', if window panes are given a coating of this new material, light would easily pass but heat would be contained, says Naga Priya.

She says imagine a building, whose exterior is coated with this top class insulator, the building would be cool in summer and warm in winter. It would reduce the load on air conditioning and could lead to saving a lot of electricity and help combat climate change.

It is not that the material is fully ready to be deployed for all these varied uses, it is still very expensive to make and some of it is very fragile. The team at VSSC uses evaporation at ambient temperature to make some of the aerogels. This is cheaper than the specialised super critical drying technique used to make aerogels for special applications. There are many industrial applications like in furnaces where these special materials can also be easily used.

Scientists at ISRO have developed small portable devices that can help in search and rescue. There are handheld devices that can be carried by trekkers and soldiers when they traverse the desolate regions. These smart devices can be activated using a button and once initiated it emits a radio beacon that can be detected by satellites.

Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) the exact location of the person who is in distress can be automatically pin pointed. The battery-powered device sends up a signal, which can then be automatically tracked at ground stations in Lucknow and Bengaluru. If only Lance Naik Hanumanthappa were carrying this device his rescue could have been greatly speeded up.

A similar but slightly larger device has been made by VSSC for use by fishermen. This can be fitted on the fishing boats and can be triggered manually or when it encounters salt water it gets triggered. This device transmits a pulsed signal in the 406 MHz band and can help in locating ships lost at sea.

The batteries are robust enough to transmit a signal for at least 65 hours at a stretch. ISRO has helped save the lives of many trekkers in the Himalayas and is eager to help the Indian Armed Forces in case they seek to use the device at the remote locations in times of emergency.

Ensuring uninterrupted maintenance-free power supply at remote locations is a nightmare for technologists, now the scientists at VSSC have made a portable fuel cell system that can produce electricity directly from fuel through an electrochemical process where the only inputs needed are hydrogen gas and air.

Based on the 'proton exchange membrane' technology the gadget made at VSSC can generate up to about 100 watts of power. This is like lighting a single bulb but then there are several small devices that need only a small amount of power for it to work round the clock. An all-weather automatic weather station powered using this indigenously made fuel cell is currently being tested at Dehradun.

Another digital GPS device has been deployed at the Gangotri Glacier to see how this hydrogen powered device works at high altitudes. There are also plans to use the sophisticated G-SAT-6 satellite's multimedia communication capability to deploy surveillance systems in remote locations from where Pakistani infiltrators creep into Indian territory and make devastating terrorist attacks on India.

Such automatic remotely operated cameras could be powered using the maintenance free 'fuel cells' and then they could beam pictures up to the Indian satellites through which soldiers could maintain a 24x7 vigil from far away, this would be akin to having closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) but in places where there is neither power supply nor continuous human presence.

Sivan says suitable industrial partners are being actively identified and the technologies will transferred so that so called 'rocket science' no longer remains rocket science. More importantly he says 'desi technology' can be used to power the 'Make in India' effort and help save lives.

 

[charlie]

ISRO is also planning to use G-SAT-6 satellite’s multimedia communication capability for setting up surveillance systems in remote locations to keep an eye on infiltrators. Fuel cells can supply power to the automatic, remotely-operated cameras, which will send pictures to Indian satellites and from there to the soldiers.

Well ISRO need to develop a more powerful sensor like this which can be used in satellites, may be in next 10 years US might get these sensors in their satellite and may be India can develop in next 20 to 30 years.



With these kind of sensors infiltration at border can be kept in check, it has ability to track multiple object in area of interest as well as multiple agencies can use it too.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System Update
Last Satellite of the Series: IRNSS 1G will be launched on 28th April 2016.
http://www.prajasakti.com/Content/1748605

I will post a about how to use the system as well next month.

 

[Gessler]

All images taken from attached .pdf document. This is treasure trove of information regarding Chandrayaan-2's lunar rover and it's related technologies.

Continued ...

http://www.iitk.ac.in/directions/Di...andrayanIIlunarmission_profduttavenkatesh.pdf

@Indx TechStyle @Illusive @PARIKRAMA @abingdonboy

 

[Gessler]

Also, a brief description of Chandrayaan-2 payloads' attributes;

Chandrayaan-2 is the second Indian Lunar Mission which will be launched in near future. Chandrayaan-2 consist of an Orbiter, a Lander and a Rover. SPL, VSSC, has the following experiments onboard Chandryaan-2 orbiter and Lander.

• CHACE-2 (CHandra's Altitudinal Composition Explorer) onboard Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter
• ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) on Chandrayaan-2 Lander
• RAMBHA (Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere) on Chandrayaan-2 Lander, which consisting Langmuir Probe (LP), Dual Frequency Radio Science(DFRS) experiment and radio sounder.

• CHACE-2 (CHandra's Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2) on Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter

The CHACE-2 experiment aboard the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter will study the neutral composition of the Lunar exosphere from a circular polar orbit of ~100 km. The CHACE-2 instrument will be similar to MENCA. Apart from obtaining mass spectra of the tenuous Lunar exosphere, the instrument will have capability of tracking the distribution of a pre-selected set of species with higher temporal resolution.

• ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment)

ChaSTE is one of the scientific experiment on the Lander of the Chandrayaan-2 mission. ChaSTE is a thermal probe with the objective of making in-situ measurements of temperature profile on the lunar surface up to a depth of 100 mm near the polar region, and the measurements of thermal conductivity of lunar regolith. ChaSTE would be the first-ever in-situ thermal measurements on lunar surface near the polar region.

• RAMBHA (Radio Anatomy of Moon Bound Hypersensitive ionosphere and Atmosphere)

The RAMBHA experiment onboard the forthcoming Chandrayaan-2 Lander mission is a unique payload package that would provide a comprehensive exploration of Lunar plasma environment. RAMBHA is conceived as a suite of three experiments, viz. (i) a Langmuir Probe and (iii) a dual frequency radio science (DFRS) experiment.

http://spl.gov.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99&Itemid=679&lang=en

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO to monitor water bodies in tribal areas: Oram

In a first, ISRO's National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) will monitor and map the water bodies in tribal belts in the country to help tackle irrigation crisis faced by tribal farmers, a union minister said on Thursday.

The initiative has been taken up jointly by the tribal affairs ministry and of the NRSC of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Tribal Affair Minister Jual Oram said at a conclave here.

"Areas are being identified jointly by the ministry and NRSC for the development of tribal areas. The plan is to locate and monitor the surface water in the tribal areas. With information procured through effective use of space technology, this data could be utilised for irrigation by channelling water to the fields," Dr. T. Ravi Shankar of the NRSC said.

The NRSC had already mapped surface water and vegetation distribution in Bankura district, West Bengal, through remote sensing.

"Around 38,000 water bodies were discovered in Bankura distict," he said, while presenting a survey report.

The minister said information gathered through this project will be implemented using Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.

"In India, around 80 percent of the tribals are farmers with meagre land holdings, but there is no irrigation facility for them. The Centre is stressing on irrigation this year to resolve the issue. If tribal farmers get water, half of their issues would be resolved," Oram said.

He said with MGNREGA help, water could be channelled to the fields by paving drains and making reservoirs near the fields.

The minister said even with presence of several dams in tribal belts, the farmers there were facing scarcity of water for irrigation.

"We lag behind in terms of tribal development. We need a better plan. In 1951, 8.5 percent of tribals were educated while in 2011 it went up to 59.5 percent, which is still low. As of today, only around 2 percent of the tribals have access to doctors," said the minister.

Oram said there are around 705 scheduled tribes and expressed concern that around 75 of the 'vulnerable tribal groups' could not get ST certificates, even though they were on the list.

He said the ministry was holding talks with private security agencies to provide jobs for tribals and also focusing on their education, especially the 'creamy layer' among the tribal youth.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO exhibition throws light on space science

Meerut: Avenue Public School is all set to play host to science enthusiasts with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) space and science exhibition. The exhibition is a two-day event at the school in Ganga Nagar. Satellite models, informative panels, rockets and even models of GeoSynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will be at a display.

The exhibition is being hosted by The Avenue Public School (TAPS) in collaboration with My City My Initiative (MCMI) - an initiative of the district administration to bring city residents to the forefront.

The exhibition will be open for all from 3pm to 5pm on Friday and Saturday.

Deepak Pandya, who's heading a team of five engineers from ISRO, said," We have brought with us models of 12 satellites including one working model, three rockets, informative panels, the first 3-D image of moon taken by ISRO, GSLV, GSLV Mark III, PSLV, test model of satellite that was used for Mars mission and many more things. Our main objective is to make the students and the city residents aware about space and satellites about which they read in books but have not seen yet." "We have got registrations from over 30 CBSE and ICSE schools from Meerut and even two schools from Baghpat have registered themselves to be part of the exhibition. Also, students from 12 UP board schools - which have been adopted under MCMI - will be a part of the exhibition too," said Manish Saini, manager, TAPS.

The ISRO team has even brought a documentary to show to the kids, which aims at guiding them on how to join ISRO.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Country needs more satellites: ISRO chairman

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar has said that the ISRO would have to increase its bouquet of satellites from the present 34 to at least 70 to 75 to meet the increasing demand in the field of communication and navigation in the country.

Inaugurating the sixth biennial conference of the ISRO Pensioners’ Association here on Saturday, Mr. Kumar said the ISRO had become the cynosure of the whole world with its achievements over the past several decades. The motto of ISRO is ‘space technology in the service of the humankind’. The ISRO has been working towards this goal ensuring societal application of space technology. The ISRO helped to link 16 lakh post offices across India within a few months. Space technology is currently helping the development of islands in the country. VSSC director K. Sivan was present.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO To Launch Its First Reusable Space Shuttle In 2016

Reusable rockets seem to be the future of space travel and research. We saw SpaceX create history by launching and recovering its first ever reusable rocket on Saturday. Hence we though of talking about India’s plans are in the same sector.


Apparently, the Indian Space Research Organisation had plans of launching its first reusable vehicle on December 28, 2015. But due to some technical slags, the launch was postponed to 2016. The launch then, could have been set in February 2016 but due to other scheduled launches, it was moved to April.

The vehicle that will be hurled into lower earth orbit and be brought back to the surface has been named the Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) and it was developed by Thumba-based Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

ISRO will complete the design in 2016. The aim is to bring back the vehicle from the orbit and test if this process is economically viable. The objective is to access space with best minimum cost possible,

ISRO Chairman A. S. Kiran Kumar had said earlier in an interview.
We still have a long way to go and have taken baby steps in this direction.

On paper, ships like the RLV-TD can bring down operation costs during a space mission to 10 percent the actual revenue.

The mission of the space shuttle from ISRO is to fly to an altitude of 70km and then execute a soft landing in the Bay of Bengal. Currently, according to the results of multiple simulations, the rocket is destined to drown to the bottom of the sea with no plans of recovery, but the space institute is working on this.

To prevent the vehicle from getting damaged (due to heat), its nose has been protected by carbon-carbon and there are about 600 heat-resistant tiles placed around the vehicle. These tiles will be able to withstand a temperature to about 1,200 degrees Celsius,

an ISRO engineer told the Times of India last year.

The mission is expected to go live by the end of July, this year. According to reports, more test flights will be conducted after this and proving their success, reusable launch vehicles will finally be used from 2025 onwards.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Story of the Week - ISRO
IIST Secures 8th Position in all India Universities Ranking

The Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (IIST) is ranked eighth among all Indian Universities by the National Institutional Ranking Framework, set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. The rankings were officially announced in a function held at the Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on April 4, 2016.

The MHRD ranking is based on a national survey that evaluated Universities on a wide set of parameters, including their excellence in teaching, quantity and quality of research output, interface with other institutions and the industry, laboratory and library resources, faculty-to-student ratio, gender equity, graduation placements etc.

This award comes as a great recognition, a testimony to IIST's rapid growth as a pre-eminent and highly sought after educational institution, on par with many prestigious and long-established Universities of the country.

IIST at a Glance

As an autonomous institute under the Department of Space (DOS), and a deemed to be University, IIST has been offering undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral education in the broad areas of space science and space technology. The institute currently has seven departments, with nearly hundred faculty members holding PhD. Their expertise span the various fields of aerospace engineering, avionics, earth and space sciences, mathematics, chemistry, physics and humanities.

The institute offers four years B.Tech programs in Aerospace Engineering and Avionics and a five year Dual Degree Program leading to a B.Tech degree in Engineering Physics and Post Graduate Degree in any of the following specialisation - (i) M.S. (Astronomy & Astrophysics) (ii) M.S. (Earth System Science) (iii) M.S. (Solid State Physics) and (iv) M.Tech (Optical Engineering). The selection of students for the undergraduate programs is done through the highly competitive Nation-wide Joint Entrance Examinations (JEE-Main & JEE-Advanced), which ensured the admission of students with the best academic credentials. All meritorious students are supported financially through DOS scholarships for the duration of their study.

Since its founding, five batches of undergraduate students have graduated from IIST, who were subsequently placed in the various ISRO/DOS centers. The institute has been thus fulfilling one of its important mandates of providing quality human resource for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The institute also offers post-graduate programs in 14 emerging and highly sought after specialisations. These two years post-graduate programs are all research oriented, with one full year dedicated to supervised research work.

The institute recognises the relevance of research and encourages all its faculty members to guide and supervise young scholars for the PhD program as well as for Post-Doctoral program. Currently nearly 100 doctoral students are working closely with faculty members on various problems. These research-intensive doctoral programs are structured to help students to evolve into independent researchers and teachers who can contribute to the broadening of knowledge in their fields.

Since 2012, thirteen doctoral degrees have been awarded by the institute, with over 300 research publications appearing in science and engineering journals of global standing. Within a short span of 8 years, the institute has also put together 52 well equipped laboratories catering to its various research and teaching needs.

The DOS/ISRO has established an endowed fellowship at the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology (GALCIT), California, USA in the honor of Dr. Satish Dhawan, the former Chairman of ISRO. The fellowship provides an excellent opportunity to the top ranking graduating student from Aerospace Department of IIST, to pursue Masters in Space Engineering at California Institute of Technology (Caltech). On completion of the course and award of degree by Caltech, the student will pursue career in Space at ISRO. Since last year, the JPL/NASA has been accepting three B.Tech students of IIST for a 2-month internship program at the JPL. In the past, IIST students have also undergone internship programs at the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI), Houston and also at the University of Texas, Arlington.

As part of the institute's social commitment towards furthering the cause of basic education, the institute routinely hosts various educational and public outreach activities for schools and colleges. The annual IIST @ Schools event draws talented young high school students for a weeklong extensive training program in science, engineering and creative writing. Since last year, the institute has also been a host for the Prathibha Scholarship Program of Kerala State Council for Science, Technology & Environment ( KSCSTE) for college students.

Prof. K S S Moosath, Head, Department of Mathematics, IIST, receiving the award from the MHRD minister Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani
Story of the Week - Archive
Apr 11, 2016 : IIST Secures 8th Position in all India Universities Ranking
Apr 05, 2016 : Geo-spatial Technology for Expansion of Sericulture in India
Mar 28, 2016 : First Theme based On-line Outreach Programme conducted at IIRS on Geo-spatial Technologies for Urban Planning
Mar 21, 2016 : Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interferometer (GIRI) established at NARL
Mar 15, 2016 : Vicarious CalVal Facility for Calibration of Satellite Sensors
Mar 07, 2016 : A new Brazing process for Semi-Cryo Engine established by ISRO
Feb 29, 2016 : Hot Isostatic Press Facility was inaugurated at VSSC

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[Indx TechStyle]

Story of the Week
Gadanki Ionospheric RADAR Interferometer (GIRI) established at NARL
National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) at Gadanki, an autonomous research institute of Department of Space, is engaged in fundamental and applied research in the field of Atmospheric Sciences. A new 30 MHz radar system, Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interfereometer (GIRI), has been established at NARL for ionospheric, meteor and space weather research in a comprehensive way. GIRI consists of a rectangular antenna array of 160 two-element Yagi-antenna arranged in a 20x8 matrix, twenty transmitter units providing a maximum peak power of 160 kW, six digital receivers including data processing systems, a radar controller, and a host computer.

GIRI has been designed with the following objectives:

- to carry out unattended observations towards studying the forcing from the sun (e.g., variation in solar flux, solar flare, magnetic storm) and from the underneath atmosphere (e.g., waves generated by weather phenomena) on the ionospheric irregularities

- to steer the radar beam on a pulse-to-pulse basis up to ±50o in the east-west plane providing spatial map of ionospheric irregularities covering about 10o longitude belt around Gadanki, to study evolution of irregularities

- to measure Doppler velocity unambiguously by taking advantage of the wavelength (10 m) and also by double-pulse technique to study polarisation processes and supersonic plasma flow

- to measure Doppler spectrum of overspread targets with a-periodic pulsing scheme to study different regimes of electrostatic turbulence

- to measure zonal drift of irregularities using interferometry technique

- to perform in-beam interferometric imaging of small scale structures and their dynamics.

The beam agility would provide important information on the angular location of plasma irregularities during the onset phase and its relationship to background ionospheric state parameters and sunset terminator. Investigations made using the new capabilities are expected to improve the skill in Equatorial Plasma Bubble (EPB) forecasting, as EPB is detrimental for satellite based navigation/communication applications.

Measurements made using GIRI and other ionospheric measurements using co-located radio and optical instruments along with the lower atmospheric measurements are being used by a large number of instrumental facilities which provides a unique opportunity to investigate the vertical coupling in a comprehensive way.

The proposed up-gradation of the upcoming active array MST radar into Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) will add a new dimension to the atmospheric and ionospheric research in the country. With the ISR upgrade, NARL will become the first comprehensive low latitude observatory in the world, providing a unique opportunity for scientists from both home and abroad to conduct frontline atmospheric and ionospheric research.

Link to MST Radar




Story of the Week - Archive
Mar 21, 2016 : Gadanki Ionospheric Radar Interferometer (GIRI) established at NARL
Mar 15, 2016 : Vicarious CalVal Facility for Calibration of Satellite Sensors
Mar 07, 2016 : A new Brazing process for Semi-Cryo Engine established by ISRO
Feb 29, 2016 : Hot Isostatic Press Facility was inaugurated at VSSC
Feb 26, 2016 : ISRO participates in "Make In India Week"
Feb 16, 2016 : Towards Self Reliance in Navigation-IRNSS
Feb 10, 2016 : User Interaction Meet 2016 and New Releases in Public Domain

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• next ›

Hey guys, @Kunal Biswas @sayareakd @PARIKRAMA
Tomorrow posted the above quoted post somewhere else.

They said that facility is currently very small but can be base of a weather based weapon in future.
What do you guys think?

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Indian industry gets chance to build, fly rocket
DECCAN CHRONICLE. | B R SRIKANTH

Head honchos of more than 25 industries have been invited for the event.

ISRO plans to step up the number of flights in order to ferry more satellites into space, and in the process privatize the operations of this rocket. (Representational Image)

Bengaluru: Ready for a ride into space? This question will be posed to the who’s who of Indian industry by top Indian space scientists at a day-long conference in Bengaluru on April 21. Head honchos of more than 25 industries have been invited for the event and would be offered a chance to knit a consortium to build and fly the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

Reason: With cash registers ringing as more countries and organizations opt to launch their satellites onboard PSLV, ISRO plans to step up the number of flights in order to ferry more satellites into space, and in the process privatize the operations of this rocket.

“We are limited by capacity though this (PSLV) is a very good launch vehicle. We want them (industries) to form a consortium to build PSLV and launch satellites. Our target is to have 12 PSLV flights in a year first, then scale it up 18 and even 24 in a year,” A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO, told Deccan Chronicle.

He said the interaction with captains of industry would also help create more than one reliable supply chain for all types of components and sub-systems required for PSLV in order to maintain the frequency of flights. “We are trying to work with various people (industries) so that we have more than one candidate available for each component,” he added.

And, in line with its plans to increase the number of launches, ISRO has commenced construction of the second facility for assembling PSLV at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDS), Sriharikota Range. “It will be ready later this year,” he added.

Sources in ISRO said though industries such as Larsen & Toubro and Godrej & Boyce have been partnering the space agency in manufacture of satellites and rockets, the forthcoming conference would provide an opportunity for other private enterprises to join the consortium to build and fly the PSLV. This would serve as a launch-pad for those with plans to compete for global aerospace and defence contracts worth billions of dollars.

In fact, some of the 120-odd private firms which provided subsystems and components for ISRO’s successful Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) have used their low-cost, high-tech expertise to bid for megabuck global contracts, sources added.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO’s New Military Satellite CartoSat-2C To Launch In May - India Nerve
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced the launch of it new earth observatory called CartoSat-2C in May. The satellite shall specifically cater military demands, and shall be launched using the famous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Following this launch, India will be in equal ranks with China and USA, two of the countries who already have their spy satellite scanning activities on Earth from space. India’s first military-only satellite CartoSat-2A was launched in 2007, and since then it has been beaming highly sensitive and classified information, including neighbourhood missile launches.

The satellite was built at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad, where it undertook multiple tests to check for its functioning and durability. A couple weeks ago, CartoSat-2C was transferred to ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre) at Bengaluru. An ISRO official has stated that though there’s very little information at their disposal about the satellite built at SAC, it’s a follow-up mission to the Cartosat series and will provide high-resolution images and videos captured from space.[/quote]
As per the official report, the Cartosat-2C weights 690kgs. The high-res multi-spectral instrument and Panchromatic Camera will allow for the satellite to capture stunning sharp imagery. The military satellites launched earlier had a resolution of 0.8 meter, while the new camera mounted on the CartoSat-2C has a resolution of 0.65 meter, that is it can even capture smaller objects more accurately from space. The camera on the new military satellite can not only capture high-resolution images, but also reduce its size and transmit the file back to Earth.
CartoSat-2C, along with 21 other satellites, shall be launched using PSLV in May this year. Our ‘sharpest eyes in the sky’ shall run in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at a low-earth altitude of approximately 200-1200 kms from Earth’s surface following the launch.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO’s New Military Satellite CartoSat-2C To Launch In May - India Nerve
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has announced the launch of it new earth observatory called CartoSat-2C in May. The satellite shall specifically cater military demands, and shall be launched using the famous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Following this launch, India will be in equal ranks with China and USA, two of the countries who already have their spy satellite scanning activities on Earth from space. India’s first military-only satellite CartoSat-2A was launched in 2007, and since then it has been beaming highly sensitive and classified information, including neighbourhood missile launches.

The satellite was built at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad, where it undertook multiple tests to check for its functioning and durability. A couple weeks ago, CartoSat-2C was transferred to ISAC (ISRO Satellite Centre) at Bengaluru. An ISRO official has stated that though there’s very little information at their disposal about the satellite built at SAC, it’s a follow-up mission to the Cartosat series and will provide high-resolution images and videos captured from space.
As per the official report, the Cartosat-2C weights 690kgs. The high-res multi-spectral instrument and Panchromatic Camera will allow for the satellite to capture stunning sharp imagery. The military satellites launched earlier had a resolution of 0.8 meter, while the new camera mounted on the CartoSat-2C has a resolution of 0.65 meter, that is it can even capture smaller objects more accurately from space. The camera on the new military satellite can not only capture high-resolution images, but also reduce its size and transmit the file back to Earth.
CartoSat-2C, along with 21 other satellites, shall be launched using PSLV in May this year. Our ‘sharpest eyes in the sky’ shall run in a sun-synchronous polar orbit at a low-earth altitude of approximately 200-1200 kms from Earth’s surface following the launch.

@Gessler @Navnit Kundu @Superdefender @Illusive

 

[Indx TechStyle]

@LETHALFORCE Delete post no. 1154551. Next post is written appropriately.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

Asia Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium held at New Delhi

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), along with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the SPIE(the International Society for Optics and Photonics) organised the 10thedition of Asia Pacific Remote Sensing Symposium, 2016 (APRS 2016) during April 4-7, 2016 at New Delhi. The Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS), which is a professional society of more than 4000 scientists/researchers, hosted this Symposium. Many Heads of Space Agency namely Mr Charles F. Bolden, Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Mr Jean-Yves Le Gall, President of French National Space Agency (CNES); Mr Shizuo Yamamoto, Vice President, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA); Mr Yan Hua Wu, Vice Administrator of China National Space Administration (CNSA); Dr Alan Ratier, Director General of European Organisation for Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT); Mr Francisco Javier Mendieta, Mexican Space Agency (AEM) and Mr Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO gave their vision on next steps in space observations and international collaboration during the Special Plenary session. This prestigious symposium was attended by 300 National participants and 130 International participants across 15 countries.

APRS Symposium focussed on applications of remote sensing technologies for disaster mitigation and to better monitor global climate change. The prime motive of the symposium is to garner new initiatives and collaborative international efforts towards space based observations for weather and climate. The deliberations during the symposium were aimed at enabling better coordination amongst space agencies to explore the means of harnessing the benefits of space technology for the betterment of humanity.

The symposium was preceded by two-day pre-symposium tutorials on 'Trends and Challenges in Remote Sensing & Geo-informatics', 'Satellite Meteorology and Data Assimilation', 'Remote Sensing Optical Sensor Calibration and Characterisation' and 'Designing the Climate Observing System of the future' during April 2-3, 2016, organised by Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Minister of Earth Sciences, NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre and NASA Langley Research Centre.

The first day of the symposium had a Special Plenary session on 'Next Steps in Space Observations - Vision for International Collaboration' with Chiefs of Many Space Agencies as distinguished speakers followed by a Panel discussion on 'Space, Earth and Humanity'. Another Plenary session on 'Roadmap to Space based Earth Observations & Applications' held in the afternoon with distinguished speakers from India and abroad. They discussed the possibility of studying effects of climate change with the help of space technologies.

The seven parallel conferences of the symposium included 80 technical sessions and 10 poster sessions. The symposium deliberated on more than 800 papers in the area of remote sensing for atmosphere, clouds and precipitation, land surface and cryosphere, oceans and inland waters, Lidar for environmental monitoring, hyperspectral and ultraspectral technology, techniques and applications, earth observing missions and sensors, modeling of the atmosphere, oceans and interactions, etc. The participants presented their scientific work related to various aspects of remote sensing, the latest developments and applications, cutting-edge technologies, research ideas and international collaboration.

The International Exhibition showcasing the spectrum of activities of space agencies and space industries was inaugurated by Dr Jitendra Singh, MOS, PMO. Thereafter, Minister had an interaction with all Space Agency Chiefs.

As an associated event, ISRO and CNES organised a reception on April 3, 2016 (Sunday), during which Space Agency heads presented their views on the topic “Space and Climate: How will space agencies contribute to implementing and following up the COP-21 agreement". Agency Chiefs and their representatives from AEM, CNES, CNSA, CTRS (Morocco’s Royal Centre for Remote Sensing), EUMETSAT, ESA (European Space Agency), ISRO, JAXA and NASA attended this event. They confirmed their commitment to use space technology tools and applications for climate change studies and to monitor COP-21 results. The agency heads approved the principles of a Declarationunderlining the commitments made by the space sector at the COP-21 in Paris.

This Declaration calls for evolving space-based operational tools combining in-situ measurements and increased computing resources. To this end, space agencies will need to develop new technologies to be flown in space or encourage their research community to contribute actively with new models. Success will depend on the cooperation to cross-calibrate instruments and cross-validate their measurements, in order to achieve an international, independent system for estimating the emissions of all world nations based on internationally accepted data, thus creating a level playing field and an independent basis for further reductions. Through this Declaration, the world’s space agencies are also committing to establish a global framework to move forward on these matters. This Declaration once endorsed by Committee on Earth Observation System (CEOS) in April 2016 will pave way for comprehensive global climate data system to support current and future generatio ns of spacecraft.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO Offers Private Companies To Manufacture And Fly PSLV

Over 25 industries and top scientists are participating in a conference to be held on April 21st at Bengaluru. Opportunities will be given to companies to start manufacturing Ploar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which launched 28 non-Indian satellites from 2013-2015 earning about $101 million that charges for a commercial launch.

There are about 31 consecutive successful launches, after the failure of PSLV in the year 1997. ISRO is now looking to increase the number of flights and put more satellites to space and privatize the rockets, as the nations are coming forward with investments through PSLV to launch their satellites.

A.S.Kiran Kumar, the Chairman of Indian Space and Research Organisation said that they have only limited opportunity to launch the PSLV. ISRO welcomes the industries to manufacture and launch the satellites through PSLV. The organization is planning to improve the number of flights every year from 12 PSLV to 18 and then to 24 PSLV every year.

Participation of private companies would establish at least a single reliable supply chain with all kinds of components also the sub systems that are needed for PSLV to maintain number of flights. ISRO is interested in working with various industries to increase the candidates from all components. This is to increase the frequency of launches.

There is some gossip that Godrej and Boyce also Larsen and Turbo are collaborating with the space organization in the production of rockets and satellites. The conference on 21st April will create more ways for private organizations to join ISRO and increase the production and Fly the PSLV.

 

[Indx TechStyle]

ISRO helping govt keeping prices of potatoes and onions in check: SAC director

The senior ISRO scientist said that Indians do not respect the fact that a lot of innovations happen in the country with frugal finance.
BY: EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE | AHMEDABAD |PUBLISHED ON:APRIL 15, 2016 9:29 PM

Stating that there is “no paucity of innovation in India”, Tapan Misra, the director of Space Applications Centre — an arm of ISRO — said that the country’s space agency has been helping the government in keeping the prices of agri-commodities in check through advanced predictions using satellite imagery.

“You would be seeing that the prices of potatoes or onions do not rise as much as they once used to. There was a time when their prices used to rise 500 percent and governments used to fall. The reason is that we do predictions based on satellite imaging and give production estimates to the government,” said Misra while addressing an award ceremony of Gujarat Innovation Society (GIS) where Ela Bhatt, the founder of SEWA, Ahmedabad was awarded along with 14 other innovators.
“So if they know that the sugarcane production in UP and Maharashtra is going to be low, the government gets time to book sugar from Brazil. That is the reason why the prices of sugar have been between Rs 20-40 per kilogram during the last 10 years. The prices are lower than the inflation rates,” he added.

“We (ISRO) has given the country so many communication satellites. Through the television programmes aired through these satellites we make the country laugh and also make them cry; fights in family happen and they stop as well. We do not give importance to this, but only when we do something like a Mars mission then ISRO’s contribution is acknowledged,” Misra said while stressing on the innovations done by scientists at this institution.

The senior ISRO scientist said that Indians do not respect the fact that a lot of innovations happen in the country with frugal finance. He narrated how SAC was planning to buy a special kind of CNC machine from Germany, but got the same made through a local company in Rajkot. “If we had bought from Germany, it would have costed us Rs 12 crore, and we only paid Rs 1.5 crore to the local company. We ended up saving a lot of money,” Misra said about a decision that was made a couple of months back.

The chief guest of the event Dr C Muralikrishna Kumar from Niti Aayog said the NDA government under the Atal Innovation Mission will begin work on the establishing 500 tinkering labs in schools across the country in the next one month. “We will set up a challenge where schools will compete to set up these laboratories that will boost the spirit of innovation among school children.”

Meanwhile, the GIS awards that were given out during the event included Ela Bhatt, founder of SEWA. She was given the Gujarat Ratna— A life for innovation award. Diamond baron, Savji Dholakia, Managing Director of Hari Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd., and Mr. Jaysukh O. Patel received the “Hercules Award” for “conducting the highest and biggest loyalty program ever for employees” in Surat and for a “LED Motion Sensor Light for prevention of electricity wastage” in Ahmedabad, respectively.

The Achievers Award were bestowed upon Dr. Harish R Gershom for inventing “HARISOPHONE”, a musical instrument for augmenting the cure of human ailments through sound therapy in Ahmedabad , and Mr. Vijay Kothari who received it for conceptualizing the “Waste Out of Wealth” (WoW) Program meant for shredding secret records of companies and waste management and pollution prevention in Ahmedabad.

The trendsetter awards were given to Nikisha Bhadreshbhai Jariwala’s innovation that deals with an exquisite way “to transliterate Gujarati text into Braille, a crucial aid for the visually impaired” in Surat. Ahmedabad-based Vinit Naranbhai Patel was recognized for developing a resource recovery process for preventing pollution and reducing carbon footprints, while Saumil Anilkumar Parikh fetched the Trend Setter Award for a process to differentiate genuine medicines through specially designed Aluminum foil, Ahmedabad.