THE SPOKESPERSON

  Chandrayaan-3 rover confirms presence of sulphur in lunar surface, search for Hydrogen underway: ISRO.  The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope instrument onboard 'Pragyan' rover of Chandrayaan-3 has “unambiguously confirmed" the presence of sulphur in the lunar surface near south pole. Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Rover unambiguously confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) in the lunar surface near the south pole, through first-ever in-situ measurements. Al, Ca, Fe, Cr, Ti, Mn, Si, and O are also detected, as expected. Search for Hydrogen (H) is underway," the space agency tweeted. The space probe had earlier posted a message for ‘earthlings’ telling the world that it was on its way to ‘uncover the secrets of the Moon’. ISRO informed on Monday that the Pragyan Rover had come across a 4-meter diameter crater on the lunar surface some 3 meters ahead of its location. It had then been commanded to retrace its path and h...

  UK's Air Traffic Control's computer systems faced technical glitch which affected airlines, both domestic and international. According to reports, thousands of air travellers faced delays on Monday after Britain's air traffic control system was hit by a breakdown.  Earlier  Scottish airline Loganair  had said there had been “a network-wide failure of UK air traffic control computer systems." “Although we are hopeful of being able to operate most intra-Scotland flights on the basis of local coordination and with a minimum of disruption, north-south and international flights may be subject to delays," it said. Flight control operator  National Air Traffic Services  said it was experiencing an unexplained “technical issue" that could delay flights on Monday, the end of a holiday weekend and one of the busiest travel days of the year. The service said it had “applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety" and that engineers were workin...

  Isro is scheduled to launch two uncrewed missions carrying a humanoid ‘Vyommitra’ before the final manned mission, which is likely to be launched in 2024 or 2025. If the manned mission is successful, India will become the fourth nation in the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the capability to launch a human spaceflight mission. The  Gaganyaan  project got delayed due to the pandemic. Now we are planning the first trial mission in October first or second week. Bringing back the astronauts is as important as sending them," Jitendra Singh told news channel NDTV. "In the second mission, there will be a female robot and she will mimic all human activities. If everything goes perfect, then we can have a go-ahead," he added. In other progress made for the Gaganyaan programme, the second crew module sub-assembly identified for uncrewed missions is completed and delivered by industry. The orbital module preparation facility construction is also co...

  India made a historic achievement, becoming the first country to land the ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on the Moon's southern pole. This milestone comes shortly after a Russian probe, Luna-25, experienced a crash landing in the same area. We have achieved soft landing on moon. India is on the Moon", proclaimed the Chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), S. Somanath, following the successful landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander module at the Moon's South Pole. This achievement marks India as the first nation to attain this historic milestone and puts an end to the disappointment stemming from the Chandrayaan-2 crash landing four years ago.

  Russian space agency Roscosmos reported that an "emergency" situation arose during a maneuver executed by Russia's Luna-25 probe as it prepared for its Moon landing.  This unforeseen event occurred during a crucial thrust operation aimed at transferring the probe onto its pre-landing orbit.Earlier in the week, Russia marked a significant milestone with the successful placement of its Luna-25 lander into the Moon's orbit. This mission is particularly noteworthy as it represents Russia's first lunar mission in nearly half a century. The launch took place from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, as reported by AFP. Landing uncertainty Roscosmos has not specified whether this unexpected incident will affect the scheduled landing, which is currently set to occur on Monday, in the vicinity north of the Boguslawsky crater located on the lunar south pole. Risk and uncertainty in lunar missions In June, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov conveyed ...

  India’s space agency,   ISRO , is jointly developing a nuclear-powered engine along with Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), it is reliably learnt.  Chemical engines, such as those that power the thrusters in satellites, are fine up to a point, but if you want to send a spacecraft deep into space, such as into inter-planetary missions, they will not do—neither can they carry that much fuel nor can they be solar powered because sunlight will not reach a solar panel at such long distances.  According to sources, ISRO-BARC are developing what are called Radio thermoelectric generators (RTGs). “The work has already begun and has been identified as a major task that has to be completed soon,” the source said. The nuclear engines are not to be thought of as nuclear fission reactors that generate electricity. The RTGs use radioactive materials, such as Plutonium-238 or Strontium-90, which release heat as they decay.   Essentially, the engine c...

India is planning to have its first Polar Research Vessel (PRV) within the next five years, according to Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju. This initiative is aimed at sustaining India's bases in Antarctica. The proposal regarding the ship is expected to undergo Cabinet approval during the current financial year. During a discussion in the Rajya Sabha, Rijiju said that in 2014, the Cabinet had already approved Rs 1,051 crore for the acquisition of the vessel. Furthermore, a tender was floated for the same purpose. However, the project was later abandoned by the government due to certain conditions raised by the company responsible for building the ship. These conditions were not part of the original tender process.  Rijiju announced that another effort has been initiated and a proposal is now ready to be moved by the EFC (Expenditure Finance Committee).The estimated cost of the vessel has been revised to Rs 2,600 crore, Rijiju noted.Rijiju expressed optim...