Italy is not just about pizzas and pastas. But it is also about rockets and satellites.
Recently, ``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM)'' has embarked on a mission of making the unknown, the known. What does it mean? It has started highlighting the achievements of space agencies which do not receive much publicity like for example, Nasa. Recently, Rosa, the Romanian Space Agency, figured in this blog. Today it is the turn of Italy which launched into the space era in 1964 resulting in the formation of the Italian Space Agency in 1988.
According to the Italian Space Agency, the nation's space adventure started at Nasa's Wallop's Island in the US. Incidentally, it was at this centre where Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and some other Indian rocket scientists received their initial training in the sounding rocket programme.
Italy actually entered the space era with the launch of the San Marc satellite in December 1964 for studying the earth's atmosphere. This was a colloborative project between the University of Rome and Nasa. With this launch, Italy became the third country in the world after the former Soviet Union and the US to launch its own satellite.
Following the formation of the Italian Space Agency, Italy has become one of the major players in the field of space sciences, satellite technologies and development of systems for exploring the universe. While a global space power like India is still debating whether it join the 17-member International Space Station, Italy is a participant through Leonardo, a logistics module, and also the interconnecting element between the space station's labs.
Over the years, Italy has launched satellites for observing the earth relating to environmental monitoring and security.
As a part of its international colloboration, an Italian satellite, ``Agile,'' dedicated to the critical field of astrophysics, was launched by Isro's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on April 23, 2007. For the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn launched on October 15,1997, it developed the antennas.
In 2013-14, the European Space Agency is launching the Beppi Colombo mission to Mercury. Again Italy will be on it with four experiments.
Italy is spreading its wings deep into space and perhaps someday will launch its own flight to Moon and Mars. It has the capability. The countdown has started. Let us wait for this day. It is not far off.
Italy therefore is not just about pizzas and pastas. It is also about rockets and satellites.
ends
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Hylas launch
Another big event for India's space programme.
On Saturday at 9 a.m. (IST) an advanced communication satellite HYLAS (Highly Adaptable Satellite),
built by ISRO in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 rocket. The launch took place from the Guyana Space Centre at Kourou in French
Guyana.
As the rocket thundered off the launch pad, the space scientists broke into an applause. And 35 minutes after its lift-off, HYLAS separated from the rocket after reaching the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
According to Isro officials, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka successfully received radio signals transmitted by HYLAS which indicated that the satellite's health is
normal.
HYLAS satellite developed for Avanti Communications, UK consists of ten
high power transponders that use eight in Ka and two in Ku band frequencies. The satellite is designed to deliver high-speed broadband services through its spot beams over Europe.
The contract for building of satellite was won in the year 2006 after competing along other leading manufacturers of USA and Europe.
Astrium had the responsibility for overall program management and delivery
of the communications payload and Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite bus
and also performed the satellite integration and testing at ISRO's
facility in Bangalore.
HYLAS satellite weighing 2541 kg at lift-off is
the heaviest satellite built by ISRO for I-2K bus capable of operating for
over 15 years mission life as demanded by the customer. The satellite's
solar panels generate a maximum of about 3200 Watts of power.
Antrix/ISRO is also responsible for the post launch operations of HYLAS,
which are being conducted from the Master Control Facility, Hassan. The
operations include firing of the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in
three phases to place the satellite in geostationary orbit. The first
firing of LAM is scheduled for the early hours of November 28, 2010.
On Saturday at 9 a.m. (IST) an advanced communication satellite HYLAS (Highly Adaptable Satellite),
built by ISRO in partnership with EADS-Astrium of Europe, was successfully launched by the European Ariane-5 rocket. The launch took place from the Guyana Space Centre at Kourou in French
Guyana.
As the rocket thundered off the launch pad, the space scientists broke into an applause. And 35 minutes after its lift-off, HYLAS separated from the rocket after reaching the Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
According to Isro officials, the Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka successfully received radio signals transmitted by HYLAS which indicated that the satellite's health is
normal.
HYLAS satellite developed for Avanti Communications, UK consists of ten
high power transponders that use eight in Ka and two in Ku band frequencies. The satellite is designed to deliver high-speed broadband services through its spot beams over Europe.
The contract for building of satellite was won in the year 2006 after competing along other leading manufacturers of USA and Europe.
Astrium had the responsibility for overall program management and delivery
of the communications payload and Antrix/ISRO provided the satellite bus
and also performed the satellite integration and testing at ISRO's
facility in Bangalore.
HYLAS satellite weighing 2541 kg at lift-off is
the heaviest satellite built by ISRO for I-2K bus capable of operating for
over 15 years mission life as demanded by the customer. The satellite's
solar panels generate a maximum of about 3200 Watts of power.
Antrix/ISRO is also responsible for the post launch operations of HYLAS,
which are being conducted from the Master Control Facility, Hassan. The
operations include firing of the satellite's Liquid Apogee Motor (LAM) in
three phases to place the satellite in geostationary orbit. The first
firing of LAM is scheduled for the early hours of November 28, 2010.
Friday, November 26, 2010
An unknown story about Chandrayaan's success
``You paid Rs 2,200 for the dvd,'' was the instant response of my good friend, Pradeep Mohandas, when I told him that I had brought the dvd of the famous film, ``The Dish,'' which is a fictionalised account of the role of the Parkes Observatory in Australia in the Apollo 11 mission. The high quality pics of the Neil Armstrong getting off the ladder of the lunar module and stepping on the surface of the moon, were indeed from this observatory.
My reply to him was that if it was concerned with space, I do not mind paying such a huge the amount! After all this dvd is not readily available in the market. My search for the dvd on Thursday evening was prompted by a news given to me by a close friend that that the deep space network in Canberra in Australia had supported the Chandrayaan flight. I visited a new swanky dvd showroom at Kemps Corner, not far from where I stay, and inquired about the disc. The store keeper first said; ``Sorry.We do not have it."' But, then he clarified: ``I think we have it. Let me check.'' He checked his computer, and yes he had it.After a 15-minute search of all the shelves, he managed to locate it and gave it to me, but not before playing the first part in his system.
On Friday, I watched the nearly two-hour film on my computer. To say it was great would indeed be an understatement. The reason: it was absolutely superb and in all probability I may be seeing it again on Saturday night. I told Pradeep that it was certainly worth more than Rs 2,200 and he laughed.
One of the scenes in the film depicts an animated conversation among the Parkes team during dinner which focussed on how many in the world would watch on TV, the first man on the moon. Some one rattled off figures. When it came to India, one of them said a lot of people would see it, ``but there is just one telly.' On hearing this everyone broke into laughter. There was a note of sarcasm in his answer because he clearly meant that India was a backward country with just one TV set!
This was in July 1969 But in 2008 the situation changed and India has been acknowledged as an emerging space power and what better proof of this than the success of the Chandrayaan-1 mission?
``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM) has learnt that the Deep space network of Canberra, Australia was used by ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 lunar craft for maintainence. This is an hitherto unknown story of the Indian moon mission. Australians who in 1969 thought India was a backward nation, now supported its lunar programme! Truly there is a twist of irony in this development.
Chandrayaan-1 lunar craft was designed for two years mission life. However some observations during he early phase of the mission time line called for the accelerated operations of the science instruments to accomplish the mission objectives in the shortest time frame.
So, to operate the lunar craft on 24 X 7 basis, the support of Canberra station was sought by ISRO. The ready acceptance and the extented co-operation by the DSN operation crew enabled ISRO to operate Chandrayaan-1 lunar craft 24 X 7 basis. ``This ensured all the science instruments of Chandryaan-1 to deliver more than 7 TB of data covering the entire moon within an year. This was the secret behind the success of Chandryaan-1 even though the mission survived only 10 months,'' said an official.
The support provided by Canberra station which was not originally planned prior to the start of the mission, has it's own share in the historical discovery of water on the lunar surface and lunar ice in the craters of lunar poles etc, says the official.
Rs 2,200 for ``The Dish,'' was certainly worth it!
ends
My reply to him was that if it was concerned with space, I do not mind paying such a huge the amount! After all this dvd is not readily available in the market. My search for the dvd on Thursday evening was prompted by a news given to me by a close friend that that the deep space network in Canberra in Australia had supported the Chandrayaan flight. I visited a new swanky dvd showroom at Kemps Corner, not far from where I stay, and inquired about the disc. The store keeper first said; ``Sorry.We do not have it."' But, then he clarified: ``I think we have it. Let me check.'' He checked his computer, and yes he had it.After a 15-minute search of all the shelves, he managed to locate it and gave it to me, but not before playing the first part in his system.
On Friday, I watched the nearly two-hour film on my computer. To say it was great would indeed be an understatement. The reason: it was absolutely superb and in all probability I may be seeing it again on Saturday night. I told Pradeep that it was certainly worth more than Rs 2,200 and he laughed.
One of the scenes in the film depicts an animated conversation among the Parkes team during dinner which focussed on how many in the world would watch on TV, the first man on the moon. Some one rattled off figures. When it came to India, one of them said a lot of people would see it, ``but there is just one telly.' On hearing this everyone broke into laughter. There was a note of sarcasm in his answer because he clearly meant that India was a backward country with just one TV set!
This was in July 1969 But in 2008 the situation changed and India has been acknowledged as an emerging space power and what better proof of this than the success of the Chandrayaan-1 mission?
``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM) has learnt that the Deep space network of Canberra, Australia was used by ISRO's Chandrayaan-1 lunar craft for maintainence. This is an hitherto unknown story of the Indian moon mission. Australians who in 1969 thought India was a backward nation, now supported its lunar programme! Truly there is a twist of irony in this development.
Chandrayaan-1 lunar craft was designed for two years mission life. However some observations during he early phase of the mission time line called for the accelerated operations of the science instruments to accomplish the mission objectives in the shortest time frame.
So, to operate the lunar craft on 24 X 7 basis, the support of Canberra station was sought by ISRO. The ready acceptance and the extented co-operation by the DSN operation crew enabled ISRO to operate Chandrayaan-1 lunar craft 24 X 7 basis. ``This ensured all the science instruments of Chandryaan-1 to deliver more than 7 TB of data covering the entire moon within an year. This was the secret behind the success of Chandryaan-1 even though the mission survived only 10 months,'' said an official.
The support provided by Canberra station which was not originally planned prior to the start of the mission, has it's own share in the historical discovery of water on the lunar surface and lunar ice in the craters of lunar poles etc, says the official.
Rs 2,200 for ``The Dish,'' was certainly worth it!
ends
Thursday, November 25, 2010
IAA and Planetary robotic exploration
Not many perhaps are aware that all these years there has been a rivalry between two of Nasa's key space centres--the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at Pasadena in California, and the Johnson Space Centre at Houson which is dedicated to manned space flights.
While the former has always insisted that unmanned interplanetary space probes have made a lot of new discoveries and attained scientific breakthroughs, and thus are better than manned space missions, the Houston team feels just the opposite.This controversy has raged for years and top officials of Nasa at the agency's HQ in Washington are also divided on this issue. In the opinion of ``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM)'' while the Apollo manned missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972 were undoubtedly a great technogical feat, scientifically,however, were of little significance--a fact aknowledged by none other than Nasa itself. Also what was the real scientific gain by astronauts and cosmonauts visiting the International Space Station?
It is in this context, that the equal importance given to human space flight as well as planetary robotic exploration at the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) conference on November 17 2010 in Washington assumes significance.
BMM on Thursday had highlighted IAA's report about human space flight project. Today it is about planetary robotic exploration, though not in much detail.
The report says: ``We have reached the stage at which our robotic explorers must be even more sophisticated and capable, and they must operate successfully in a wider range of environments throughout the solar system, if we are to answer the next set of compelling scientific questions, many of which are directed at the age-old question: ``Did life arise elsewhere outside the earth?''
It says a programme of significantly expanded breadth and depth will be required that is well beyond the means of any given nation to pursue alone.
According to the IAA document the robotic explorers ``should pave the way for expanded human exploration through attainment of critical knowledge of relevant destinations.''
When it talks about life outside the earth, could it mean planets other than Mars?
This question needs to be answered.
----------------------
Sorry Discovery.
The highly jinxed space shuttle ``Discovery's'' launch could be resked into Christmas or even February 2011.
This has become necessary because of the massive repairs which have to be carried out to the shuttle's external tanks.
The other factor which is upsetting the launch sked is the uncertain weather at the Kennedy Space Centre.
When Discovery roars off the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre--whenever it is--be sure of a rousing send off! And also a grand welcome when it returns after 11 days. This will be its last mission---assuming of course that the shuttle does take off someday!!
While the former has always insisted that unmanned interplanetary space probes have made a lot of new discoveries and attained scientific breakthroughs, and thus are better than manned space missions, the Houston team feels just the opposite.This controversy has raged for years and top officials of Nasa at the agency's HQ in Washington are also divided on this issue. In the opinion of ``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM)'' while the Apollo manned missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972 were undoubtedly a great technogical feat, scientifically,however, were of little significance--a fact aknowledged by none other than Nasa itself. Also what was the real scientific gain by astronauts and cosmonauts visiting the International Space Station?
It is in this context, that the equal importance given to human space flight as well as planetary robotic exploration at the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) conference on November 17 2010 in Washington assumes significance.
BMM on Thursday had highlighted IAA's report about human space flight project. Today it is about planetary robotic exploration, though not in much detail.
The report says: ``We have reached the stage at which our robotic explorers must be even more sophisticated and capable, and they must operate successfully in a wider range of environments throughout the solar system, if we are to answer the next set of compelling scientific questions, many of which are directed at the age-old question: ``Did life arise elsewhere outside the earth?''
It says a programme of significantly expanded breadth and depth will be required that is well beyond the means of any given nation to pursue alone.
According to the IAA document the robotic explorers ``should pave the way for expanded human exploration through attainment of critical knowledge of relevant destinations.''
When it talks about life outside the earth, could it mean planets other than Mars?
This question needs to be answered.
----------------------
Sorry Discovery.
The highly jinxed space shuttle ``Discovery's'' launch could be resked into Christmas or even February 2011.
This has become necessary because of the massive repairs which have to be carried out to the shuttle's external tanks.
The other factor which is upsetting the launch sked is the uncertain weather at the Kennedy Space Centre.
When Discovery roars off the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Centre--whenever it is--be sure of a rousing send off! And also a grand welcome when it returns after 11 days. This will be its last mission---assuming of course that the shuttle does take off someday!!
Navalgund and disaster management--at the Washington space summit
None other than the director of the Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre, the very affable R.R.Navalgund, has made a critical assessment of the state of earth observation satellites during the heads of space agencies summit in Washington on November 17, 2010. It was orgnised by the International Academy of Astronautics to mark its 50th year.
The thrust of his presentation was that there was a need to strengthen the constellation of earth observation satellites for monitoring disasters.
Navalgund, who chaired the disaster management group at the Washington space summit, in his ppt made the following points. These are just few of them:-
* Geostationary satellites provide data over large areas( eg 1/2 an hour) and are appropriate for detecting, monitoring and providing early warning for some of the meteorological disasters such as tropical cyclones. But, they do not provide adequate spatial and spectral resolution for most of the other disasters.
* Satellites with microwave payloads provide information over cloud-covered regions. But, they are limited in number.
* Constellation of satellites specifically designed for disaster management have been initiated by some space agencies. But, they are limited and need improvement.
* Satellites with specific payloads for early warning of natural disasters are few in number.
* While earth observation data is helpful in mapping flood inundation,drought severity assessment, cyclone tracking and mitigation measures, lacunae exist in:-
a----predicting the cyclone landfall point and intensity accurately.
b----Flood forecasting in particular flash floods.
``Beyond Moon and Mars,'' has not reproduced the extremely informative and interesting ppt completely. It will do so in the coming days after studying them. But, the points made by Dr Navalgund which have been reproduced here are of extreme importance and significance and the authorities should respond to them.
-----------------
The thrust of his presentation was that there was a need to strengthen the constellation of earth observation satellites for monitoring disasters.
Navalgund, who chaired the disaster management group at the Washington space summit, in his ppt made the following points. These are just few of them:-
* Geostationary satellites provide data over large areas( eg 1/2 an hour) and are appropriate for detecting, monitoring and providing early warning for some of the meteorological disasters such as tropical cyclones. But, they do not provide adequate spatial and spectral resolution for most of the other disasters.
* Satellites with microwave payloads provide information over cloud-covered regions. But, they are limited in number.
* Constellation of satellites specifically designed for disaster management have been initiated by some space agencies. But, they are limited and need improvement.
* Satellites with specific payloads for early warning of natural disasters are few in number.
* While earth observation data is helpful in mapping flood inundation,drought severity assessment, cyclone tracking and mitigation measures, lacunae exist in:-
a----predicting the cyclone landfall point and intensity accurately.
b----Flood forecasting in particular flash floods.
``Beyond Moon and Mars,'' has not reproduced the extremely informative and interesting ppt completely. It will do so in the coming days after studying them. But, the points made by Dr Navalgund which have been reproduced here are of extreme importance and significance and the authorities should respond to them.
-----------------
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
India does it again
Once again India has made its presence felt on the stars. And that too stars from different countries. This starry gathering (pl do not misunderstand it for either bollywood or hollywood)--far from it--was in Washington on November 17,2010. The occasion was the prestigious meeting of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) to mark the 50th year of the organisation.
The one day international space meet saw the presence of 30 heads of space agencies, 500 academicians, world leaders and experts, India was represented in all the four groups--human space flight, robotic planetary exploration, disaster management and climate change. It was the heads of space agencies summit.
None other than G.Madhavan Nair, former Isro chief, is in the commander's seat of the IAA--he is its president. Nair arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday night from Washington after the attending the conference, and attempts to reach him immediately failed because ``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM), forgot to take his mobile for a dinner meeting. But BMM managed to reach him at Mumbai airport early on Wednesday morning when Nair was boarding a flight for Bangalore and speak to him for a few minutes.
A point of signficance was that India had played a key role in framing the final reports relating to all the four groups. This according to him was nothing, but a clear endorsement of India's status as an emerging space power.
Since the human space flight document had emphasised about the importance of the 17-member International Space Station (ISS), Nair said the IAA will play a catalystic role in making India a part of the space station. ``Though we cannot play an executor's role, we will lobby with the government regarding the advantage of India becoming a part of the ISS,'' he said. He recalled the US deputy secretary of state, James Steinberg, who represented secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, at the conference welcomed more countries participating in the ISS, especially India.
A conference document states: ``Just as Russia joining the International Space Station was a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War, so too would be the joining of China, India and others with the ISS partners in a co-operative effort to explore the moon, near earth objects and Mars, be a powerful symbol of hope for the 21st century.''
Remember what present Isro chairman, K.Radhakrishnan had said on September 27,2010 at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague?--There were no plans of India joining the ISS. It was an evolving process.'' What happened during the visit of President Barack Obama to India? He and PM Manmohan Singh issued a joint statement on November 7,2010 and one of the points was that India and the US will continue discussions regarding this country joining the ISS! When this contridiction was mentioned in The Times of India by BMM, Radhakrishnan got upset!
The conference declaration states that ``human mission to mars are the long term goal of space exploration. Keeping this in view IAA has recommended continuing to support the work of the International Space Exploration Co-ordination Group which is formulating plans for global space exploration efforts.''
Some of the other points of the space summit declaration:-
* Acknowledge the need of maintaining human space exploration in low earth orbit, and of extending it in a stepwise approach to those destinations where humans may one day live and work eg moon and near earth objects, building on carefully planned series of robotic precursor missions.
* Recognise the importance of the International Space Station as an integral part of the exploration initiative and its utilisation for the benefit of all mankind.
* Stress the importance of co-ordinating research on human factors in preparation for space missions beyond LEO (low earth orbit). LEO extends upto 2000 kms.
* Acknowledge thce need to define an integrated public engagement plan to support a sustainable human exploration programme.
* Invite new and emerging space faring nations to co-operate on human space flight activities in view of the benefits involved and in order to ensure that this becomes a global endeavour.
It says: ``The development of new capabilities of rising space powers like India and China will allow a global exploration programme with higher frequency and diversity of human exploration missions''
The report says that ``Recent technological studies on human space flight scenarios have led to a proposal to the Indian government for a first manned mission in the 2016 time frame and an ambitious programme of human space flight to follow. The government has not yet accepted the proposal,'' it says.
Nair said that while the government has approved the design and development of a man rated space capsule for the human spaceflight mission,t, Isro is awaiting the green signal in certain other areas connected with this project,
Asked what is meant by ``ambitious programme of human spaceflight to follow,'' Nair said that conceptual studies were in progress for a manned mission to the moon and Mars by India around 2025. ``We have the capability,'' he added
ends
The one day international space meet saw the presence of 30 heads of space agencies, 500 academicians, world leaders and experts, India was represented in all the four groups--human space flight, robotic planetary exploration, disaster management and climate change. It was the heads of space agencies summit.
None other than G.Madhavan Nair, former Isro chief, is in the commander's seat of the IAA--he is its president. Nair arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday night from Washington after the attending the conference, and attempts to reach him immediately failed because ``Beyond Moon and Mars (BMM), forgot to take his mobile for a dinner meeting. But BMM managed to reach him at Mumbai airport early on Wednesday morning when Nair was boarding a flight for Bangalore and speak to him for a few minutes.
A point of signficance was that India had played a key role in framing the final reports relating to all the four groups. This according to him was nothing, but a clear endorsement of India's status as an emerging space power.
Since the human space flight document had emphasised about the importance of the 17-member International Space Station (ISS), Nair said the IAA will play a catalystic role in making India a part of the space station. ``Though we cannot play an executor's role, we will lobby with the government regarding the advantage of India becoming a part of the ISS,'' he said. He recalled the US deputy secretary of state, James Steinberg, who represented secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, at the conference welcomed more countries participating in the ISS, especially India.
A conference document states: ``Just as Russia joining the International Space Station was a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War, so too would be the joining of China, India and others with the ISS partners in a co-operative effort to explore the moon, near earth objects and Mars, be a powerful symbol of hope for the 21st century.''
Remember what present Isro chairman, K.Radhakrishnan had said on September 27,2010 at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague?--There were no plans of India joining the ISS. It was an evolving process.'' What happened during the visit of President Barack Obama to India? He and PM Manmohan Singh issued a joint statement on November 7,2010 and one of the points was that India and the US will continue discussions regarding this country joining the ISS! When this contridiction was mentioned in The Times of India by BMM, Radhakrishnan got upset!
The conference declaration states that ``human mission to mars are the long term goal of space exploration. Keeping this in view IAA has recommended continuing to support the work of the International Space Exploration Co-ordination Group which is formulating plans for global space exploration efforts.''
Some of the other points of the space summit declaration:-
* Acknowledge the need of maintaining human space exploration in low earth orbit, and of extending it in a stepwise approach to those destinations where humans may one day live and work eg moon and near earth objects, building on carefully planned series of robotic precursor missions.
* Recognise the importance of the International Space Station as an integral part of the exploration initiative and its utilisation for the benefit of all mankind.
* Stress the importance of co-ordinating research on human factors in preparation for space missions beyond LEO (low earth orbit). LEO extends upto 2000 kms.
* Acknowledge thce need to define an integrated public engagement plan to support a sustainable human exploration programme.
* Invite new and emerging space faring nations to co-operate on human space flight activities in view of the benefits involved and in order to ensure that this becomes a global endeavour.
It says: ``The development of new capabilities of rising space powers like India and China will allow a global exploration programme with higher frequency and diversity of human exploration missions''
The report says that ``Recent technological studies on human space flight scenarios have led to a proposal to the Indian government for a first manned mission in the 2016 time frame and an ambitious programme of human space flight to follow. The government has not yet accepted the proposal,'' it says.
Nair said that while the government has approved the design and development of a man rated space capsule for the human spaceflight mission,t, Isro is awaiting the green signal in certain other areas connected with this project,
Asked what is meant by ``ambitious programme of human spaceflight to follow,'' Nair said that conceptual studies were in progress for a manned mission to the moon and Mars by India around 2025. ``We have the capability,'' he added
ends
Monday, November 22, 2010
Blooming space countries
When it comes to talking or writing about space missions, what does one immediately think of? Any guess? One is immediately reminded only of Nasa, the European Space Agency, the the Russian Space Agency, Chinese National Space Adminstration and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. Of course, sometimes India's Isro gets bracketed with this powerful group, since this country is now an acknowledged space power.
Unfortunately, not much is really known about the space programmes of other smaller countries because they do not have the capacity to publicise their progress, though perhaps limited, like for example Nasa. Henceforth, therefore, periodically ``Beyond Moon and Mars,'' will attempt to highlight the achievements of those space agencies which are not much in the lime light.
To begin with, how many are aware that Romania has its own space programme and is managed by the Romanian Space Agency? Again while much has been written about the numerous experiments which will flyi in the final flight of space shuttle, ``Discovery,'' tentatively slated for December 3,2010, to the International Space Station (ISS), do you know that a project of the Romanian Space Agency is also a part of this much-delayed mission?
According to the agency, the Romanian experiment has been created for the ISS by the Romanian Institute For Space Science. The experiment deals with the survival of coloured fungi in space. It is an experiment designed to determine the effect of microgravity and cosmic radiation on the growth and survival of coloured fungi species.
The Romanian Space Agency also called Rosa was first established in 1991 and reorganised by a government decision in 1995. Since its inception is has undertaken a number of space projects having both national and international interests. The international projects have been designed and developed under the authority of the European Space Agency, the European Commission and the United Nations.
Rosa colloborated with the Romanian minstry of defence, ministry of foreign affairs, ministry of agriculture and environment, ministry of interior, ministry of telecommunications and IT and also the Romanian Intelligence Service.
Romania became a full member of the European Space Agency this year and participates in its missions.
God Speed Romania.
ends
Unfortunately, not much is really known about the space programmes of other smaller countries because they do not have the capacity to publicise their progress, though perhaps limited, like for example Nasa. Henceforth, therefore, periodically ``Beyond Moon and Mars,'' will attempt to highlight the achievements of those space agencies which are not much in the lime light.
To begin with, how many are aware that Romania has its own space programme and is managed by the Romanian Space Agency? Again while much has been written about the numerous experiments which will flyi in the final flight of space shuttle, ``Discovery,'' tentatively slated for December 3,2010, to the International Space Station (ISS), do you know that a project of the Romanian Space Agency is also a part of this much-delayed mission?
According to the agency, the Romanian experiment has been created for the ISS by the Romanian Institute For Space Science. The experiment deals with the survival of coloured fungi in space. It is an experiment designed to determine the effect of microgravity and cosmic radiation on the growth and survival of coloured fungi species.
The Romanian Space Agency also called Rosa was first established in 1991 and reorganised by a government decision in 1995. Since its inception is has undertaken a number of space projects having both national and international interests. The international projects have been designed and developed under the authority of the European Space Agency, the European Commission and the United Nations.
Rosa colloborated with the Romanian minstry of defence, ministry of foreign affairs, ministry of agriculture and environment, ministry of interior, ministry of telecommunications and IT and also the Romanian Intelligence Service.
Romania became a full member of the European Space Agency this year and participates in its missions.
God Speed Romania.
ends
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