Reply by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in compliance to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order dated January 21, 2024 in the matter of ‘News item titled “Feeling anxious? Toxic air could be to blame” appearing in Times of India dated 10.10.2023’. NGT had directed CPCB to file a …
In June last year when the Cluster mission was blown up because of a faulty launcher, most people thought that it was the end of the mission. But now the European Space Agency's Space Science Advisory Committee has recommended that the mission be reflown. All four of the mission's satellites, …
the first crop of wheat plants was recently harvested aboard Mir, the Russian space station, reports the us- based National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( nasa ). The plants which were grown through a complete life cycle, were a result of
arthur C Clarke, the doyen of science prophets, has warned that space age could come to an abrupt end because of the proliferation of orbiting junk. Clarke says the launch of hundreds of satellites during the next five years would increase the amount of orbiting debris so much that future …
a number of third generation satellite systems for mobile communications have been proposed in recent years. By integrating with terrestrial telecommunications systems, these systems support the vision of
a team of scientists at North Carolina State University, US, headed by Boris Yakobson, is investigating microscopic tubes of a material related to c-60, the third form of carbon, the discovery of which won this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry for Rick Smalley, Robert Curl and Harold Kroto. Yakobson's computer …
Plans for trials of a reusable satellite launcher whose rocket sections will be parachuted back to earth have been presented to the us Federal Aviation Authority. Kistler Aerospace, based in Kirkland, Washington, is behind the project, hopes it will pave the way for a new generation of reusable launchers. These, …
the speed of a rocket is determined by an old law: every action has an equal and opposite reaction (Newton's third law of motion). Current rocket technology is dependent on the speed of the exhaust gases emitted from its nozzle. If this speed could be increased by accelerating the gases …
The nation's space programme seems to be jinxed. The latest in the series of failed launches is the us $128 million-ChinaSat-7 which veered off its course after take off and failed to reach its targeted orbit last month. With this debacle, the Chinese space programme has plunged further into gloom. …
indian satellites are fast approaching the top notch position in the satellite images sector. India's five remote sensing satellites ( irs series) in orbit have become major suppliers of earth-imaging data for world-wide users. With 10 more satellite launches slated in the near future, the country is set to become …
An American engineer, Michael Micci of Pennsylvania State University, US, has used parts from a microwave oven to build a propulsion system that could revolutionise rocket launches. The system can be fuelled by water and it could lead to cheaper, larger and more reliable satellites with longer life spans. Microwaves …
technologists at Battelle, a research institute based in Ohio, us, believe that the next 10 years will usher in amazing technology-based products that will alter our way of life forever. They will change the way we work, take care of ourselves and interact with others. Many of these new products …
the world's first base for launching satellites at sea is being constructed at Long Beach in California, us. Work began early in August on the first ships which would launch rockets safely and cheaply on the ocean. Long Beach will act as the headquarters and a base port from which …
in the ongoing saga of unravelling the mysteries of the universe, the latest pictures sent by the Hubble space telescope opens a new chapter on how galaxies are possibly born. The new images show what, according to astronomers, may be galaxies being formed in the early universe out of a …
the first comprehensive global analysis of National Aeronautics and Space Administration's ( nasa 's) 15-year satellite data reveals that increasing amounts of solar ultraviolet ( uv ) radiation have been hitting the earth's surface, with the thinning of the atmospheric ozone shield (see Down To Earth , Vol 5, No …
spaceplanes of the future can be put into orbit by firing microwave beams from satellites to help them cut their way through the air. The satellites would generate the microwaves by gathering and converting solar energy. After eight years of research, engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic, New York, have successfully tested …
The 33-year-old radio telescope facility at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, is being upgraded. For many years the workhorse of radio astronomy, Arecibo has played a very important role in improving our understanding of the cosmos. The upgradation involves putting a huge aluminium shell at the centre of a 90-metre arm which …
if you thought that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( nasa ) only flew missions to esoteric destinations and designed spacecrafts to endorse the
seventeen European countries belonging to Eumetsat, the agency responsible for European weather satellites, met recently at Darmstadt, Germany, to approve a us $2.3 billion-system of weather satellites which will help provide more accurate forecasts. The members have proposed to build three satellites, for launch from the year 2002 , to …
IT TOOK just 66 seconds for US $7 billion and 10 years of hard work put in by European space scientists, to go up in smoke. Ariane-5 - the pride of the European Space Programme - had to be destroyed along with its payload of four scientific satellites by ground …
