Space facing parking problem with 12,000 satellites

Not everyone is lucky enough to experience the excitement inside the control room at Sriharikota when Chandrayaan-I was launched, but the students of Dikshant International School got the chance to relive history. They were lucky enough not just to see the video, but meet the Group Director of the Indian Space Research Organization.

Suresh Naik, former Group Director of ISRO, interacted with the students and staff of the Dikshant International School at the school’s media centre on Sunday. Naik showed a presentation carrying the facts and pictures related to Chandrayaan-I. He also showed students the different stages of making of a rocket and a satellite. He showed the video of the launching of Chandrayaan-I and the visuals of the research centre.

He said a satellite had a life of 15 to 20 years, after which it gets lost in the space. “There are around 12,000 satellites in the space, of which only 20 per cent are working. The others, along with some other unwanted material, comprise space debris, which is causing a parking problem in space. This debris causes a lot of problem in the launch of new satellites,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said the Indian Space and Science Technology Centre was situated at Thiruvantpuram and that he had worked under the ISRO scientists with former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, being the Chancellor of the university.

Answering another question, he said scientists were seeing Mars as an alternative habitat for humans. He said that by 2035, the first human should be able to reach Mars. He said that according to plans, two years prior to this robot would land on Mars. He also educated students about Chandrayaan-II and Chandrayaan-III, the upcoming projects of the ISRO. Chandrayaan-II, which would carry two rovers for the further exploration of the moon, is scheduled for 2013 while Chandrayaan-III is scheduled for 2015.

ISRO to launch RISAT and ANUSAT in March

After the successful Chandrayaan-I moon mission, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is now getting ready to launch two satellites Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT) and ANUSAT.

ISRO is planning to launch these two satellites in March last week with the indigenously built Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle from the Sriharikota spaceport.

Indian space scientists see the 1,780-kg RISAT as a major milestone for the country as far as remote sensing satellites are concerned. RISAT mission would have a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi- polarisation and multi-resolution mode.

SAR, being an active sensor, operating in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum, provides the target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness, and geometry, and has the unique capability for day-night imaging, and imaging in all weather conditions including fog and haze, and also provide information on soil moisture.

So far, all satellites launched by ISRO are optical remote sensing satellites. But RISAT will have all other capabilities.

RISAT is capable of taking pictures during night as well and even in cloud-covered conditions, an expertise Indian remote sensing satellites did not have previously.

ANUSAT is a 50 kg micro satellite being designed and fabricated at Anna University, Chennai. The aim is to bring university based academicians and research and development experts of ISRO together to implement a project in university environment. ANUSAT carries a digital store and forward payload for amateur communication. In addition, a number of technological payloads like digital receiver and turbo coder and MEMS based gyro and magnetic field sensor are planned to be in this micro satellite.