India to develop spacecraft which can carry 3 astronauts

India plans to develop a spacecraft that can carry up to three astronauts in the seven-day manned mission to space. "Concept is getting evolved" Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said on 11th February while addressing an international seminar here

ISRO is looking at developing a capsule (spacecraft) with service module which can lodge three astronauts and take it to lower earth orbit using the indigenous GSLV (Geo-Synchronous Launch Vehicle) in the year 2015. The Mission duration is seven days.

There would also be emergency mission abort and crew rescue provisions in case of necessity. Crew module would be designed for re-entry and service module for mission management.

He said the GSLV-Mk III, which can launch four tonne class satellites, would bring down the launch cost by half. The maiden flight of GSLV-Mk III is slated for next year.

About Chandrayaan-1 moon mission, Nair said instruments on board have thrown up voluminous data which would take a few years for scientists to analyze and come out with exact results. Entire mapping of the lunar surface is expected to be carried out in a year's time. There is no trace of water on moon so far.

Indian repairs world's largest telescope GBT

Dr Srikanta Pal, an Indian scientist has rectified the problem of satellite signals interfering with the observation of the universe by the world's largest telescope in the US.

Dr Srikanta Pal solves the problem and said: “The Robert C Byrd Green Bank Telescope located at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's site at Pocahontas County in West Virginia, US, had been exhibiting the problem ever since it was set up in August 2000”

Srikanta Pal, an associate professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, developed the electronics components needed to rectify the problem during his post-doctoral research in the University of Birmingham in the UK under the supervision of Prof Michael J Lancaster.

The scientist said that the Radio Astronomy Observatory had approached to his mentor Prof Lancaster to rectify the snag. Srikanta Pal, who hails from Bankura district in West Bengal, said he took up the challenge out of sheer interest.

The GBT is described as a 100-meter telescope, but the actual dimensions of the surface are 100 by 110 meters. The overall structure of the GBT is a wheel-and-track design that allows the telescope to view the entire sky above 5 degrees elevation. The track, 64 m (210 ft) in diameter, is level to within a few thousandths of an inch in order to provide precise pointing of the structure while bearing 7300 metric tons (16,000,000 pounds) of moving weight.

Iran to send more satellites in Earth orbit

Iran plans to send satellites in medium and high Earth orbits in the next two or three years. On 3rd February Iran launched Omid light satellite in low Earth orbit, using the Safir 2 rocket. It coincided with celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and raised concerns in the United States and other countries about Iran’s potential use of long-range missiles to send warheads halfway around the globe.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said: “With this launch, the Islamic Republic of Iran has officially achieved a presence in space and it’s a "source of pride" for the Islamic republic”.

Hossein Rahimi, The chief of Iranian Scientific and Industrial Research, said: “Iran's next step in space technology was sending operational satellites in an orbit of 36,000 km. Iran has designed and manufactured Mesbah 1 telecommunications satellite but it could not be launched because of political stonewalling and we have to find a country which accepts to send the satellite in orbit”.

The scientific progress in the country will be able to launch Mesbah and similar projects in two or three years.

NASA, Google launches Mars in 3D

NASA and Google Inc have launched a new version of Google Earth on 2nd February that allows users to explore the oceans, view images of Mars and watch regions of the Earth change over time.

The new features mark a significant upgrade to Google Earth, a popular software program that provides access to the world's geographical information through digital maps, satellite imagery and the company's search tools.

Google Earth 5.0 was unveiled at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, where former Vice President Al Gore, singer Jimmy Buffet and others spoke about its capacity to educate the public about global warming, ocean acidification and other threats to the planet.

"This is an extremely powerful educational tool," said Gore, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his work raising awareness about climate change. "One of my fondest hopes is that people around the world will use Google Earth to see for themselves the reality of what's happening because of the climate crisis."

Google Earth has been downloaded more than 500 million times since it was launched in 2005. The software is available for free on Google's Web site. Researchers and organizations can purchase a more powerful version for $400.

John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps aid: ”the idea of adding oceans came three years ago when a scientist pointed out that the software was missing the water that covers almost three-quarters of the Earth's surface.

NASA and Google, Inc. have teamed up to build the ultimate atlas for Mars fans eager to explore the red planet in three-dimensional detail while keeping their feet firmly on Earth.

Google Mars 3D, a new mode included in Google's latest version of Google Earth software, allows users to tap into high-resolution and three-dimensional views of Martian terrain from the comfort of their own personal computer.

The mode, which relies on NASA data and imagery from the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and other spacecraft, is designed so users can "fly" through Martian canyons in a virtual mode and see the red planet's surface through the camera eyes of those long-lived NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity, as well as other Mars missions.

The new Mars mode also includes a sharing feature so users can add their own 3D content to the Mars map for all to see.

NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., collaborated with Google to build the new Google Mars 3D mode. In addition to NASA data, the software includes data produced by researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University, SETI Institute and other organizations

Russia launches CORONAS-Photon spacecraft with Indian payload

Russia has successfully launched its CORONAS-Photon spacecraft with Indian payload on 30 January, 2009 to study the Solar activity and its impact on the upper atmosphere of our planet. Initially the launch of the Cyclone-3 rocket had been scheduled for Thursday, but was delayed by a day for technical reasons.

'Cyclone-3' space launch vehicle lifted off with CORONAS-Photon spacecraft at 1840 IST on Friday from Russia's northern Plesetsk cosmodrome and about two hour later it was placed on its designated orbit, Space Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Alexei Zolotukhin told 'Zvezda' TV channel of the Defence Ministry.

According to experts of MEFI Institute of Astrophysics, which will be coordinating the research and analysis of the Solar mission, low-energy Gamma radiation telescope RT-2 developed by Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is a major payload along with the NATALYA sensor developed by several Moscow institutes.

The scientific payloads allows to register with high time resolution the electro-magnetic radiation of Solar Fluxes in the energy range to examine the process of transformation of accumulated magnetic field energy into accelerated particles energy at the time of Solar Fluxes.

They would provide data for the detailed study of the mechanism of acceleration, distribution and inter-action of energetic particles in solar atmosphere to examine co-relation between solar activity and physical and mechanical processes in the earth's upper atmosphere.

India and Russia had signed the CORONAS-Photon agreement during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Moscow visit in December 2005.