Ballistic Missile Edge: DRDO tests Agni 1 missile successfully

2012

SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT TEST OF AGNI-I

AGNI-I, Ballistic Missile, was successfully flight tested from the Launch Complex at Wheelar’s Island of the Coast of bay of Bengal in Odisha. The Missile took off in the sky mejistically at 08.30 am on December 12,  from the Road Mobile Launcher and followed the path perfectly, computed by the explicit guidance running in the state of art onboard computers (OBC).

The AGNI-I reached the target point in Bay of Bengal with a single digit accuracy as witnessed by the two Naval Ships located near the Target.

The Missile test fired by the Strategic Force Command (SFC) as a part of routine training exercise as met all the mission objectives. The inertial navigation system (INS) performed excellently and navigated the missile within few meters from the intended target point. All the Electro Optic Tracking System (EOTS), Radar located all along the coast have tracked the missile and monitored all the parameters in real time.

The Launch operations were monitored by the Programme Director AGNI-I Dr. J Chattopadhyay and team of scientists from DRDO.  Avinash Chander, Programme Director AGNI & Chief Controller (Missiles & Strategic Systems) has guided the Strategic Force Command (SFC) and DRDO teams during the mission operations.

Dr. V.K. Saraswat, DG (R & D) DRDO witnessed the successful launch alongwith the top brass of the SFC. Dr. V.G.Sekaran, Director ASL,  MVKV Prasad, Director ITR were present during the launch.

Defence Minister  A.K. Antony congratulated all the scientists of the DRDO and Strategic Force Command on the successful flight test of AGNI-I

What makes the interstellar matter, the matter present among stars

2012

IBEX SPACECRAFT REVEALS NEW OBSERVATIONS OF INTERSTELLAR MATTER

NASA announced in January its Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)
spacecraft captured the best and most complete glimpse yet of what
lies beyond the solar system -- observations that show our solar
system is different than the space right outside it. The new
measurements give clues about how and where our solar system formed,
the forces that physically shape our solar system, and the history of
other stars in the Milky Way.

The spacecraft observed four separate types of atoms, including
hydrogen, oxygen, neon and helium. These interstellar atoms are the
byproducts of older stars, which spread across the galaxy and fill
the vast space between stars. IBEX determined the distribution of
these elements outside the solar system that are flowing charged and
neutral particles, which blow through the galaxy.

IBEX also measured the interstellar wind traveling at a slower speed
than previously measured by the Ulysses spacecraft, and from a
different direction. The improved measurements from IBEX show a 20
percent difference in how much pressure the interstellar wind exerts
on our heliosphere. Measuring the pressure on our heliosphere from
the material in the galaxy and from the magnetic fields out there
will help determine the size and shape of our solar system as it
travels through the galaxy.

Ice on Mercury: Places on the Mercury that never see the sunlight

2012

SPACECRAFT FINDS NEW EVIDENCE FOR ICE ON MERCURY

NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging
(MESSENGER) spacecraft provided compelling support for the long-held
hypothesis the planet harbors abundant water ice and other frozen
volatile materials within its permanently shadowed polar craters.

The spacecraft's onboard instruments have been studying Mercury in
unprecedented detail since its historic arrival there in March 2011.
Scientists are seeing clearly for the first time a chapter in the
story of how the inner planets, including Earth, acquired their water
and some of the chemical building blocks for life.

The new data announced in December indicated the water ice in
Mercury's polar regions, if spread over an area the size of
Washington, D.C., would be more than 2 miles thick. Given its
proximity to the sun, Mercury would seem to be an unlikely place to
find ice, however, there are pockets at the planet's poles that never
see sunlight.

Tale about the icy lands: Ice sheet loss at north pole and south pole increasing

2012

ICE SHEET LOSS AT BOTH POLES INCREASING

An international team of experts supported by NASA and the European
Space Agency combined data from multiple satellites and aircraft to
produce the most comprehensive and accurate assessment to date of ice
sheet losses in Greenland and Antarctica and their contributions to
sea level rise.

The combined rate of melting for the ice sheets covering Greenland and
Antarctica increased during the last 20 years. Together, these ice
sheets are losing more than three times as much ice each year as they
were in the 1990s. About two-thirds of the loss is coming from
Greenland, with the rest from Antarctica.

The study announced in November was produced by an international
collaboration -- the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise
-- that combined observations from 10 satellite missions to develop
the first consistent measurement of polar ice sheet changes.
Satellite data from NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite
(ICESat) and the NASA/German Aerospace Center's Gravity Recovery and
Climate Experiment (GRACE) missions were included in the study.

This activity was a major challenge involving cutting-edge, difficult
research to produce the most rigorous and detailed estimates of ice
loss from Greenland and Antarctica to date.

Taking census of the galaxies: How big is our universe and its realms

2012

NASA'S HUBBLE PROVIDES FIRST CENSUS OF GALAXIES NEAR COSMIC DAWN

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers announced Dec. 12
they have seen further back in time than ever before and have
uncovered a previously unseen population of seven primitive galaxies
that formed more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was
less than 3 percent of its present age. The deepest images to date
from Hubble yield the first statistically robust sample of galaxies
that tells how abundant they were close to the era when galaxies
first formed.

The greater depth of the new Hubble images, together with a carefully
designed survey strategy, allows this work to go further than
previous studies, thereby providing what researchers say is the first
reliable galaxy census of this epoch. Notably, one of the galaxies
may be a distance record breaker, observed 380 million years after
the birth of our universe in the theorized big bang.

Looking deeper into the universe also means peering further back in
time. The universe is estimated to be 13.7 billion years old. The
newly discovered galaxies are seen as they looked 350 to 600 million
years after the big bang. Their light is just arriving at Earth now.

Revealing the secrets of the Red Planet: Now car-size rover beside Martian mountain

Undertaking the most complex landing ever attempted in planetary
exploration, NASA successfully placed the most advanced robotic rover
on Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory mission carrying the one-ton
rover named Curiosity, touched down in August. Almost immediately,
Curiosity sent back pictures of its landing site at Gale Crater with
the eventual destination of Mount Sharp in the background. Since
then, Curiosity has checked out its 10 science instruments, sent back
detailed photos and weather observations and "tasted" Martian soil.

Key mission findings during the first three months after the landing
include conglomerate rocks bearing rounded pebbles as evidence of
vigorous ancient stream flow right in the area where Curiosity
landed; mineral composition of Martian soil similar to soils in
Hawaii that contain volcanic glass; and the first assessment of the
natural radiation environment that future astronauts will encounter
on the surface of Mars.

Curiosity's planned two-year prime mission will be to explore and
assess a local region on the surface of Mars as a potential habitat
for life, past or present. In addition, the landing technology for
putting such a large payload safely on the Martian surface could help
with plans for future human Mars missions.

On Dec. 4, 2012 NASA announced plans for a robust multi-year Mars program,
including a new robotic science rover based on the Curiosity design
set to launch in 2020.

The planned portfolio includes the Curiosity
and Opportunity rovers; two NASA spacecraft and contributions to one
European spacecraft currently orbiting Mars; the 2013 launch of the
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter to study the
Martian upper atmosphere; the Interior Exploration using Seismic
Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission, which
will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars; and
participation in ESA's 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including
providing "Electra" telecommunication radios to ESA's 2016 mission
and a critical element of the premier astrobiology instrument on the
2018 ExoMars rover. With InSight, there will be a total of seven NASA
missions operating or being planned to study and explore our
Earth-like neighbor.

The 2020 mission will constitute another step toward being responsive
to high-priority science goals and the president's challenge of
sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s.