Science & Technology Current Affairs

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      1.      Which country to select for the Gaganyaan Project with the ISRO?

ISRO has signed with the “Russia Firm Glavkosmos” to select & train astronauts for the country`s Gaganyaan Project.

The Gaganyaan Programme, an indigenous mission that would take 3 Indian astronauts to space for 7-Days, was announced in 2018.

4^th country to send a man to space, after the USSR, USA & CHINA.

The astronauts on the human space mission “Gaganyaan” are IAF pilot.

2. Vyommitra (humanoid robot)

ISRO will send “Vyommitra” in the “unmanned Gaganyaan Project”.

Vyommitra {vyoma-space; mitra-friend} is an artificial intelligence- based robotic system (half humanoid) to mimic crew activity inside the crew module of Gaganyaan.

It has been developed by scientist at IISc in collaboration with ISRO.

             3. Human Space Flight Center (In INDIA)

ISRO has proposed a consolidated “Human Space Flight Center”, which will be established at Chitradurg district, Karnataka.

It was inaugurated in January 2019, under ISRO to coordinate Indian Human Spaceflight Programme & will be responsible for the implementation of Gaganyaan project.

           4. Chandrayaan-2

A completely indigenous mission, is India`s second lunar exploration mission which has the following basic components.

Orbiter- will observe the lunar surface & relay communication b/w the Earth & Chandrayaan 2`s lander.

Lander (called Vikram)- designed to execute India`s first soft landing on the lunar surface.

Rover (called Pragyan)- a 6-wheeled, AI powered vehicle, which will move on the lunar surface & perform on-site chemical analysis.

Chandrayaan 2 was launched by Geosynchronous Satellite launch vehicle (GSLV MKIII- M1).

•               Some notable features of Chandrayaan-2 Mission-

1. 1^st space mission to conduct a soft landing on the Moon`s South polar region.
2. 1^st Indian expedition to attempt a soft landing on the lunar surface with home grown technology.
3. 1^st Indian mission to explore the lunar terrain with home-grown technology.
4. 4^th country ever to soft land on the lunar surface after the USA; USSR & the CHINA.

               5. NAVIC (GPS)

The 1^st ever NAVIC demonstration using the Snapdragon Mobile Platforms was showed by Qualcomm during the India Mobile Congress at New Delhi on OCTOBER 14-16, 2019.

Qualcomm technologies Inc. in collaboration with the ISRO has developed & tested chipset platform across their portfolio which can support the Indian Regional Navigation satellite system, NavIC.

NavIC will provide 1500km from its boundary.

Navigation Constellation consist of 7 satellite: -

3 in geostationary earth orbit,

4 in geosynchronous orbit at 29 degrees to equator.

           6.   GSAT-30

India`s telecommunication satellite GSAT-30, weighing 3357 kg, was successfully launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by launch vehicle Ariane-5 VA-251.

ISRO hired a foreign launcher as it plans to save GSLV-MKIII (with capacity of 4000 kg).

GSAT-30 is to serve as replacement to INSAT-4A services.

INSAT-4A was launched in 2005 which is used by cable operators to broadcast their TV programmes in abroad.

It will provide DTH Television Services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG), egovernance application etc.

7.   GEMINI Mission

GAGAN ENABLED MARINER`s INSTRUMENT FOR NAVIGATION & INFORMATION (GEMINI) was developed by INCOIS & AAI.

GEMINI sends the information to a mobile application download by fisherman through Bluetooth, in all regional language.

INCOIS- Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services.

INCOIS was an autonomous organization of the government of India under the ministry of Earth Science located in Pragathi Nagar, Hyderabad.

AAI- Airport Authority of India.

                  8.    Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS)

India plans for its own space-to-space tracking & communication of its space assets by putting up a new satellite series called IDRSS.

A set of 2 IDRSS satellite will be placed in geostationary orbit, enabling satellite to satellite communication & transfer of data.

“It will also reduce the dependence on the ground stations in tracking satellite”.

First satellite will be launched by 2020 end & second one by 2021.

India will join USA, CHINA, JAPAN & EUROPE who already have such DRS System.

9.    Commercial Arm

ISRO inaugurate its commercial arm New Space India Limited in Bengaluru.

It was incorporated for commercially utilizing research & development activities carried out by ISRO with an authorized share capital of Rs. 100 crore & initial paid up capital of Rs. 10 crores.

Manufacturing & production of Small Satellite Launch vehicle (SSLV) & Polar Satellite Launch vehicle (PSLV) through technology transfer mechanism.

                    10.    Cartosat- 3

ISRO successful launched Cartosat-3 & 13 commercial nanosatellites.

Cartosat- 3 will be placed in Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit.

Mission life of the Cartosat- 3 is 5 years.

Orbit type- Sun Synchronous Polar Orbit (SSPO) at altitude of 509 km.

It was navigated for the first time using the indigenous Vikram Processor designed by the ISRO & fabricated within the country.