Interstellar’s Editor-in-Chief, Nitin Gokhale, and Editor, Chaitanya Giri, were at ISRO Headquarters to interview ISRO Chairman & Secretary – Department of Space, Dr. S. Somanath. We spoke about the changing nature of the Indian space program, the new mandates to ISRO, IN-SPACe and NSIL, the opportunities ahead for the Indian space industries, the changing dynamics of the global space economy, on the astropolitical landscape, and cooperation with international partners, among others.
Author: Team Interstellar
Read More
In this first broadcasted conversation on INTERSTELLAR, we are joined by veteran space industrialist Dr. Subbarao Pavaluri (Chairman and Managing Director – Ananth Technologies Limited; President – Satcom Industry Association-India) and Dr. P.G. Diwakar (Ex-Scientific Secretary and Outstanding Scientist, ISRO; ISRO Chair Professor, National Institute for Advanced Studies, Bengaluru). They share with INTERSTELLAR their upbeat analyses of the maturing role of the Indian space industry from vendor to innovator and articulate their vision for the Indian space program.
A recent study suggests that the icy shell encasing Jupiter’s moon Europa may be rotating, potentially affecting the ocean underneath it. Europa has long been considered an interesting candidate for the possibility of extraterrestrial life due to the presence of a subsurface ocean, which is believed to contain more than twice the amount of water found on Earth. The study, which utilized data from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, focused on analyzing images of the moon’s surface to look for signs of rotational motion. The researchers found that there were noticeable changes in the surface features between different images taken at different…
The upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could revolutionize our understanding of exoplanets by detecting clouds made of tiny particles known as aerosols. Aerosols are microscopic particles suspended in a gas, and they can create a haze or a gritty cloud layer in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. This could have important implications for understanding the planet’s climate and habitability. The JWST is equipped with a range of powerful instruments, including the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which is capable of detecting the faint light scattered by aerosols. This means it could potentially observe and analyze the clouds and haze layers…
NASA and SpaceX have successfully launched the Crew-6 mission and the CRS-27 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) to conduct scientific research. The Crew-6 mission includes four astronauts – NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA’s Thomas Pesquet, and JAXA’s Akihiko Hoshide. They will stay on the ISS for six months, during which time they will conduct a range of experiments in fields such as biology, physics, and materials science. The CRS-27 cargo resupply mission is delivering approximately 7,300 pounds (3,311 kilograms) of supplies, equipment, and research to the ISS. This includes research materials for over 20…
To understand the new politics stance and other pro nationals of recent times, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. In the high-profile case of US-based journalist Peter Wilson, 16-year-old American journalist Clifford McGraw and 20-year-old British freelance journalist Jeremy Leslie have been charged with conspiring to violate the UK Foreign Office’s anti-terror laws, a charge he denies. On Monday, UK attorney Andy McDonald revealed that he had spoken. “Few worry about catching Covid anymore, as it’s just a matter of time before they do,” says Tea, a teacher at a school for…
The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a small rotorcraft designed and operated by NASA, has completed its 48th flight on the Martian surface. The helicopter, which arrived on the red planet in February 2021 along with the Mars Perseverance rover, has now flown for a total of 12.5 miles (20.1 kilometers) and set several records, including the first powered flight on another planet. The latest flight, which occurred on March 22, 2023, was part of a long-term mission to explore and study the Martian terrain from a new perspective. The helicopter’s flight was fully autonomous, meaning it was pre-programmed and controlled by…
Relativity Space, a California-based rocket-building company, experienced a setback in the test launch of their Terran 1 rocket. The launch, which took place at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, encountered an issue during the second stage burn that led to the termination of the flight. The company has stated that the failure is being thoroughly investigated, and that they will continue to work towards their goal of providing a more streamlined and efficient approach to rocket-building and launch services. Relativity Space’s Terran 1 rocket is designed to carry small and medium-sized payloads into space, with a focus on providing…
NASA’s new satellite mission to monitor global climate change, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT), has recently launched a key instrument online. The SWOT satellite will use advanced radar technology to measure changes in Earth’s water levels, which is critical to understanding how climate change is affecting the planet’s water cycle. The SWOT instrument, which stands for the KaRIn (Ka-band Radar Interferometer), is a complex piece of technology that will produce high-resolution 3D maps of Earth’s surface water. This information will help scientists to better understand how rivers, lakes, and oceans are changing over time, and how these changes…
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) telescope has created the first map of water on the surface of the Moon. The discovery of water on the Moon has been a long-standing mystery and the recent findings by SOFIA have provided new insights into the presence and distribution of water on the lunar surface. Using a specialized instrument called the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST), the SOFIA telescope was able to detect the unique wavelength signature of water molecules on the Moon’s surface. The water was found to be present in Clavius Crater, one of the…
