SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2014

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AFFAIRS MAY 2014

• DRDO on 28th May successfully test-fired the Akash air defence missiles off the coast of Balasore in Odisha. Three Akash missiles were launched from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur, on tow body target of Lakshya pilotless target aircraft (PTA) moving at "low altitude for boundary" and ripple mode missions. The missiles were successfully guided by multi-function phased array radar developed by Electronics and Radar Development Establishment, a DRDO Lab and produced by Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL).The missiles developed by Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL) along with 13 other DRDO Laboratories and produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited. The launchers were developed by R&DE (Engineers), a DRDO lab and produced by Tata Power and L&T.
  
• NASA on 28th May successfully launched the Colorado High-resolution Echelle Stellar Spectrograph, or CHESS, payload aboard a Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket to peer at a place where new stars are born. The sounding rocket payload, Colorado High-resolution Echelle Stellar Spectrograph or CHESS, launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. CHESS is equipped with a spectrograph, which can parse out just how much of any given wavelength of light is present. CHESS will soar above Earth's atmosphere to look at the ultraviolet light from a bright star - light that is blocked by the atmosphere and can't be seen from the ground. The CHESS spectrograph provides detailed and comprehensive observations which can measure not only what atoms and molecules are present, but how fast they are moving and how turbulent the gas is. Together, this information helps characterize how mature a given cloud of dust is.
  
• CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), Bangalore and India Meteorological Department (IMD) on 22 May, signed a partnership agreement for joint production of Drishti system--a sophisticated instrument for assessment of Runway visual range, which is a critical parameter for safe landing and takeoff of aircraft in poor visibility. Authorities expressed it is a milestone in the field of aviation safety. So far it was the exclusive domain of few developed countries. The indigenous production of this high-end instrument will not only result in substantial saving of foreign exchange but will also make the country self-reliant in the field of front-end technology. Drishti Transmissometer is a visibility measuring system which is an innovative, indigenous product first of its kind, designed and developed by CSIR-NAL to cover the wide span of lowest to highest visibility (< 25 to > 2000 meters) aiding pilots for safe landing and take-off. This cost-effective product is a mandatory system required at all airports as per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).
  
• According to new satellite observations, Antarctica is shedding 160 billion tonnes a year of ice into the ocean. It was twice the amount of a few years ago observations. The ice loss is adding to the rising sea levels driven by climate change.Observation also say that even east Antarctica is now losing ice. Global warming is pushing up sea level by melting the world’s major ice caps and by warming and expanding oceans. The loss of the entire western Antarctica ice sheet would eventually cause up to 4 metres of sea-level rise, devastating low-lying and coastal areas around the world. The new data was published in journal Geophysical Research Letters. The data came from the European Space Agency’s CryoSat-2 satellite, which was launched in 2010. The data collected from 2010-2013 was compared to that from 2005-2010.
  
• India on 2nd May 2014 successfully test fired indigenously-developed medium range surface-to-air anti- aircraft defence system called Akash missile from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur. Missile has a strike range of 25 km and capability to carry warhead of 60 kgs. The trial was conducted by Indian Air Force personnel. Akash is developed by the DRDO as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.