SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS JULY 2016
- Mars rover Curiosity can now fire laser on its own
For the first time, NASA's Mars Curiosity rover can fire its onboard laser all by itself, mission scientists say. New software is enabling ChemCam, the laser spectrometer on Curiosity, to select rock targets autonomously - the first time autonomous target selection is available for an instrument of this kind on any robotic planetary mission.
The ChemCam (chemistry and camera) instrument aboard Curiosity "zaps" rocks on Mars and analyses their chemical make-up. While most ChemCam targets are still selected by scientists, the rover itself now chooses multiple targets per week.
To select a target autonomously, the software uses adjustable criteria specified by scientists, such as identifying rocks based on their size or brightness.
The criteria can be changed depending on the rover's surroundings and the scientific goals of the measurements. ChemCam's spectrometers record the wavelengths seen through a telescope while the laser is firing. This information enables scientists to identify chemical composition of the targets.
Through the same telescope, the instrument on the rover's mast takes images that are of the highest resolution available.
In nearly four years since landing on Mars, ChemCam has analysed roughly 1,500 rock and soil samples with more than 350,000 total laser shots at about 10,000 points in all.
The autonomous software is called AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) and was developed by engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. - Novel technique purifies drinking water using sunlight
Scientists have found a novel way to purify drinking water quickly and efficiently using graphene oxide and sunlight, an advance that may be a game changer for countries such as India. The new approach combines bacteria-produced cellulose and graphene oxide - hailed as a wonder material - to form a bi-layered biofoam. The cellulose at the bottom of the bi-layered biofoam acts as a sponge, drawing water up to the graphene oxide where rapid evaporation occurs. The resulting fresh water can easily be collected from the top of the sheet.
The process in which the bi-layered biofoam is actually formed is also novel. In the same way an oyster makes a pearl, the bacteria forms layers of nanocellulose fibres in which the graphene oxide flakes get embedded. The new biofoam is also extremely light and inexpensive to make, making it a viable tool for water purification and desalination. - In a first, IVF with frozen embryo used for breeding indigenous cows
in-virto fertilization technique (IVF) and frozen embryo has been successfully used to establish pregnancy in livestock for the first time India—a major breakthrough for genetically improving, conserving and propagating indigenous cow breeds.
Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh launched "JK BovaGenix" that will focus on producing IVF embryos on a large scale from indigenous cattle breeds at Dr Vijayapat Singhania Centre for Excellence for Assisted Reproductive Techniques here in Janjgir Champa district.
The project is of J K Trust—an NGO which has been working towards livestock breed improvement using artificial insemination technology for the last four decades.
Establishment of pregnancies using frozen embryo is for the first time in India at present the centre has 28 cows with 14 pregnancies through IVF and 14 through frozen IVF embryos in the last three months since its inception. The first batch of IVF calves are expected to be born by the year. In 2012, a calf was born with this technique but the attempt was unsuccessful. - NASA marks 40th anniversary of Mars landing
NASA celebrated a historical milestone on 20th July, the 40th anniversary of the first U.S. spacecraft to land on Mars. On July 20, 1976, NASA successfully reached the Martian surface with their Viking Lander 1. The Viking project - comprised of two separate spacecraft - together took more than 65,000 images of the planet and collected overwhelming amounts of data.
The primary goal of the Viking mission was to search for evidence of life on Mars. While none was found, the mission did give scientists analysis of chemical activities in the Martian soil, atmospheric measurements, meteorology studies, and a detailed map of the red planet's surface. The two Viking crafts were designed to work for 90 days, but ended up functioning for 6 and half years. - NASA’s Mars orbiter finds carbon dioxide ice on Red Planet
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has found that carbon dioxide ice more often covers the ground at night in some mid-latitude regions than in Polar Regions of the Red Planet, where it is generally absent for much of summer and fall.
Some dusty parts of Mars, at night year round, become as cold as the planet’s poles do in winter and also some regions near the equator in summer, according to new NASA findings.
The surface in these regions becomes so frigid overnight that an extremely thin layer of carbon dioxide frost appears to form. The frost then vaporises in the morning.
Carbon dioxide is the main ingredient of Mars’ atmosphere. The planet also has large reserves of frozen carbon dioxide buried in the polar ice caps.
Seasonal buildup and thawing of carbon dioxide frost at high latitudes on Mars have been studied for years and are linked to a strange phenomena, such as geyser-like eruptions and groove-cutting ice sleds.
Three middle- and low-latitude areas in the Tharsis, Arabia and Elysium regions of the planet have temperature at night cold enough for carbon dioxide frost year-round or nearly year-round. Each of the three is bigger than the US state of Texas. The science instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have been examining the planet since 2006. - Hawaiian telescope presents rare infrared view of the deep Universe
Astronomers have released a stunning infrared view of the deep Universe containing a number of galaxies created in the first billion years following the birth of the cosmos.
The image is the result of over 1,000 hours of exposure time from the 3.8-m (12.4-ft) United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) located near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii
The recently released images form part of the Ultra-Deep Survey (UDS), which is the most far-reaching of five separate endeavours that form the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The UDS imaging campaign focused on an area the equivalent of four times the full moon in the night sky. The impressive infrared capabilities of the UKIRT telescope were vital to the success of the campaign in order to combat a phenomenon known as "redshift."
Redshift occurs when light from distant stars is stretched into longer wavelengths as it travels the vast cosmic distance from its source to our telescopes. Infrared telescopes are best suited to capturing this ancient light.
UDS contains around 250,000 ancient galaxies that were created relatively soon after the cataclysmic birth of the Universe via the Big Bang.
As with all astronomy images, we are never viewing the subject of our observations in real time. Light is known to travel at 299,792,458 meters per second through a vacuum, and while this may sound stupendously fast, it still takes billions of years to travel the vast gulf that separates the galaxies. - NASA's Juno successfully begins orbit of Jupiter
NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft successfully entered Jupiter's orbit today after a five-year journey from Earth, in a giant step to understand the origin and evolution of the king of planets and the solar system
With its suite of nine science instruments, Juno will study the existence of a solid planetary core, map Jupiter's intense magnetic field, measure the amount of water and ammonia in the deep atmosphere and observe auroras on our solar system's largest planet.
The mission also allow better understanding of how giant planets form and their role in putting together the rest of the solar system.
Jupiter also can provide critical knowledge for understanding the planetary systems being discovered around other stars. The Juno spacecraft launched on 5th of August 2011 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. - DRDO inks pact with IITs for Centre for Propulsion Technology
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on 9th July signed an agreement with IIT-Bombay and Madras to establish a bi-nodal 'Centre of Propulsion Technology' (CoPT) at the two institutions. The initiative is aimed at achieving synergy between DRDO and IITs for channelising the research efforts towards developing products and technologies.
The Centre will evolve mechanisms to facilitate execution of programmes related to propulsion technology and will engage both IITs as primary research nodes. It will also undertake advanced collaborative research in the areas of critical defence technologies. - LCA "Tejas" inducted into Indian Air Force
The Made in India Light Combat Aircraft Tejas was inducted into Indian Air Force in a ceremony in Bengaluru on 1st July.
The first squadron named as ‘Flying Daggers’ was formed when Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command, Air Marshal Jasbir Walia, handed over two aircrafts to Group Captain Madhav Rangacharya, the commanding officer of 'Tejas'.
The ‘Made in India’ Tejas has been designed and developed by the state-run Aeronautical Development Agency and built by HAL at its Bengaluru complex. Tejas is a single-engine multi-role fighter jet, pegged to be world's smallest and lightest supersonic fighter.
The squadron is expected to reach full strength of 20 fourth generation plus fly by wire Tejas aircrafts by 2020. The squadron will be based in Bengaluru for the first two years before being moved to Sulur airbase in Tamil Nadu.
Flying Daggers Group Captain Madhav Rangacharya flew one of the multi-role aircraft for about 10 minutes from the aircraft system testing establishment of the air force under a cloudy sky and windy conditions. LCA programme is now racing towards achieving the Final Operational Clearance after attaining Initial Operational Clearance in December 2013.
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