<p>The CHandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) experiment aboard Chandrayaan-2 orbiter will study in situ, the composition of the lunar neutral exosphere in the mass range 1–300
Women and nuclear-capable ballistic missiles usually don't go together. But, breaking the glass ceiling in a typical male bastion, a woman scientist will now head a key missile project of the country. Tessy Thomas, 45, will now be the project director for the new advanced version of the 2,500-km range Agni-II missile. The promotion comes soon after she played a crucial role in the successful firing of the 3,500-km range Agni-III missile last week as associate project director.
Scientists have come up with a controversial theory which suggests that huge comet impacts wiped out North America's large mammals 13,000 years ago. According to a report in National Geographic News, the hypothesis proposes that an onslaught of extraterrestrial bodies caused the mass extinction known as the
A new model developed by scientists has suggested that the ancient catastrophe that led to the creation of the moon may have produced additional satellites that lingered in Earth's skies for tens of millions of years. According to a report in New Scientist, model suggests moonlets may have once occupied the two Earth-Moon Lagrangian points, regions in space where the gravitational tug of the Earth and the Moon exactly cancel each other out.
Astronomers have uncovered part of the missing matter in the universe, a discovery which they claim will help in understanding the evolution of the cosmic web in the future. Ten years ago, scientists predicted about half of the missing "ordinary' or normal matter made of atoms exists in the form of low density gas, filling vast spaces between galaxies. Now, an international team has discovered its hottest parts, using the European Space Agency's orbiting observatory.
Peering far: Unlike the Hubble Space Telescope, the JWST can detect faint infrared radiation coming from very distant sources in the universe. The James Webb Telescope, the next step after the Hubble Space Telescope, is a large, infrared-optimized space telescope, scheduled for launch in 2013. It will find the first galaxies that formed in the early universe and peer through dusty clouds to see stars forming planetary systems.
The North East Space Application Centre (NESAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has agreed in principle to introduce joint courses in the areas of Atmospheric Physics and Satellite Communication with Gauhati University (GU). The ISRO centre has also proposed to collaborate with GU for design of sensor relevant for monitoring natural resources of the NE region via satellite.
salt on mars: Scientists using a Mars-orbiting camera, designed at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight Facility, have discovered the first evidence for deposits of salt in numerous places
If war ever breaks out in space it's not the loss of individual satellites that will do the damage, but the debris this produces. It will stay in orbit and go on harming satellites for decades, according to two studies presented at the American Physical Society meeting in St Louis, Missouri, last week.
In a significant development, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has completed the project report on the proposed Indian manned space mission slated for a takeoff in 2015. According to its chairman G.Madhavan Nair, the report will soon be submitted to the Government for approval. "We are basically targeting a seven-year period, planning to launch the mission in 2015 for which there is good clarity on the roadmap such as the technologies required, the estimated Rs.10,0000-million for the mission, the agencies who would be participating and so on," observed Nair.
Washington: Famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking has been thinking a lot about the cosmic question, "Are we alone?' The answer is probably not, he says. If there is life elsewhere in the universe, Hawking asks why haven't we stumbled onto some alien broadcasts in space, maybe something like "alien quiz shows?' Hawking's comments were part of a lecture at George Washington University on Monday in honor of Nasa's 50th anniversary. He theorized that there are possible answers to whether there is extraterrestrial life.
