Poet | Journalist (Space, Science & More) @TOI | @APCSS Fellow | Expert Consultant On Two (award winning) Space Films For @wbd
A study published in the ‘Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters’, accessed by TOI, reveals that lunar surface temperatures showed an anomalous dip during the strictest lockdown period of April-May 2020. 2/n
This marks the first collection of seismic data from Moon’s southern polar region and the first such data anywhere on the lunar surface since the #Apollo era. 2/n
#POEM3 was part of the #PSLVC58 mission that launched #XPoSat on Jan 1, 2024. After deploying satellites into their intended orbits, the spent rocket stage was transformed into a stabilised platform for conducting experiments. 2/n
The IAO, operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bengaluru, is renowned for its astronomical research and observations. 2/n
Among many things the global scientific community is expected to learn from Vikram and Pragyan’s work before they went to sleep is new knowledge about the lunar soil, which will be useful for future missions, including ambitious projects aiming to send humans back to #Moon. 2/n
Sunday, which is the 12th day since India achieved the historic soft-landing on the lunar surface, will see both Vikram and Pragyan retire for the night, Chandrayaan-3 project director P Veeramuthuvel told me. 2/n
#AdityaL1 will be launched in the 59th flight of #PSLV, after several yrs of devp. PSLV-C57, in XL configuration, will place #AdityaL1 in a highly eccentric Earth-bound orbit, an elliptical orbit whose Perigee is expected to be around 235km & Apogee more than 19,000km. 2/n
“LIBS is a scientific technique that analyses the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses. High-energy laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a material (rock or soil). The laser pulse generates an extremely hot and localised plasma,” Isro said. 2/n
In his first full-fledged interaction after #Vikram’s picture perfect landing & deployment of the rover, #Chandrayaan3 project director P Veeramuthuvel, in an exclusive interaction said the team was expecting a good amount of science at the end of the lunar day. 2/n
#Vikram is better prepared to overcome challenges of landing. Among other things — I’ve reported these in detail earlier — it’ll be able to withstand landing at greater velocities (3m/s). Isro has also made several other changes learning from the failure of #Chandrayaan2. 2/n
All 4 pics taken on Aug 19, a day before #Vikram entered pre-landing orbit. @isro would now be carrying out internal checks on landing module. Powered descent is expected to commence on August 23 at around 5.45pm and Vikram is set to land on the lunar surface around 6.04pm. 2/n
Isro chairman S Somanath, confirming this, said: “It has too much fuel, way beyond our expectations… 2/n
@isro has completed the last #LBN & #Chandrayaan3 is in a 153km x 163km orbit... In his post-launch remarks on July 14, Isro chief had said the spacecraft’s altitude will be reduced to a 100km circular orbit a day before the lander is separated... 2/n
“#AdityaL1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, is getting ready for launch. The satellite realised at the URSC has arrived at SDSC-SHAR (spaceport) in Sriharikota,” Isro said. 2/n
Mohan took charge from Umamaheswaran R, who superannuated on May 31. Mohan’s appointment will not change the composition of #Gaganyaan team as the project director and other positions continue to remain with the same personnel. 2/n
@isro has adopted a cautious approach for the mission with chairman S Somanath having categorically directed scientists and engineers working on the project to ensure validation of all technologies, systems and subsystems. 2/n
A senior Isro scientist said: “This will be what we call a gateway station, which will be used to link the proposed Indian Data Relay Satellites (IDRS). We’ve made the proposal and the site has been identified by our partners in France… 2/n
The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payloads mounted on integrated radar instrument structure (IRIS) and the spacecraft bus are together called an observatory. 2/n
The Earth observation satellite #SSLV is scheduled to carry will be in the small satellite class with its mass not exceeding 200kg, while the other two satellites sharing the ride will be smaller. 2/n
@isro, which has received a key payload #VELC for #AdityaL1 today, has completed survey and radiation studies at Fiji Islands for a temporary station being designed specifically for the Solar mission, while exploration of other sites is ongoing. 2/n
Trisonic Wind Tunnel is a system to aid aerodynamic design of rockets and re-entry spacecrafts by characterising a scaled model by evaluating forces, moments, load distribution, unsteady pressures, acoustic levels etc. 2/n