Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)s: Hard to ignore

The idea of existence of alien life, exploration of extra-terrestrial life and spotting of vague flying objects always enticed the scientific community. Fueling scientific passions, a genre of writers began producing a manifold variety of scientific fiction to whet the inherent curiosity and inquisitiveness of the science enthusiasts. Soon, flying saucers or flying discs/ Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO)s became extensively used terms in common parlance. Colloquially, references to UFO became synonymous to an alien space craft. While there has always been a latent obsession towards UFO, the issue started gaining more momentum ever since US government’s public disclosure.

On 16^th December 2017 US Defense Department conceded that it funded a program on UFO till 2012 which existed in various avatars. The $600 million Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP) which was shut down in 2012, started in 2007 at the behest of Nevada Senator Harry Reid. New revelations suggest the program was run by an aerospace company run by billionaire entrepreneur Robert Bigleow, a friend of Reid who is currently working with NASA for developing an expandable raft for humans in space. Upon repeated questioning senator Reid confided that black money was used to fund the program on UFO which was classified and designated as “restricted special access program”. Backing the program in 2009 government argued that “what was considered as science fiction is now a science fact”. AATIP which was started with much fanfare was mysteriously terminated suddenly in 2012. Now hell broke loose with several Pentagon officials questioning government funding since earlier projects on UFOs were called off for negative conclusions. 

In US, for long, scientific communities and defense personnel locked horns over the existence of UFOs. Scientists asserted that the overwhelming banner of UFO included not only rare sightings but unusual phenomenon that are largely unexplained by science. Experts argued often certain unusual natural phenomenon which are categorized as UFOs merited serious investigation and should be taken up case by case. Debunking the myth of UFOs researchers implored government to exercise caution and not attribute everything to the existence of alien creatures.

Post-world war II, US initiated projects to extensively investigate UFO’s on grounds of national security which intensified during the cold war era.  In 1948, US instituted Project Sign, a highly classified program to probe the extraterrestrial origins of flying saucers and was dismantled within a year without making the details of study public. This was soon followed by Project Grudge which was replaced by Project Blue Book which was officially closed in 1970 marking the end of US government’s official support to UFO program. Ambiguous denouements of the projects frustrated defense personnel who soon withdrew from these projects. But nonetheless enthusiastic astronomers and scientists soon formed private scientific consortiums and pursued investigations of UFO with renewed vigor. Parallelly, bewitched by the mysteries of alien life, NASA started looking for signs of life in the Solar System. Currently, UFO investigations in US are collectively taken up by SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) which searches for signs of life by monitoring electromagnetic radiations, NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope and Mars Science Laboratory.

Despite the overwhelming frenzy to reconnoiter and explore UFOs, focused investigations on the same are not discussed openly even now. UFO study is still considered a stigma by US defense personnel who questioned the justification behind allotment of huge amounts of funds for UFO investigations.

Interestingly though existence of UFOs is often dismissed as conspiracy theory, fib of occultism and fictitious, harrowing experiences of Naval personnel and Sailors have prompted institutions and countries to investigate UFOs. Now countries like France, Sweden, Russia, China, UK, Canada and Latin American countries are pursuing UFO investigation in a big way. Soon the study of UFOs has graduated into a neologism referred to as Ufology. In a major boost towards searching for extraterrestrial life, in 2015 Stephen Hawking, spearheaded a new program, Breakthrough Initiatives funded by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner to search for intelligent alien life.

While contrarian views regarding UFOs their relevance, existence and need for investigations continue to trigger huge debate, a new sighting by sky observers is enthralling scientists. The team of Breakthrough Listen has identified a 260ft long cigar shaped space craft hurtling through the Solar system at speeds of 196,000mph in October 2017. Ever since scientists have been closely monitoring the interstellar object initially believed to be an asteroid or a comet. Discovered by Pan-Starrs Project at the University of Hawai, it was termed as Oumuamua, a Hawaiian term meaning scout or messenger. International Astronomical Union (IAU) designated this object as I1/2017U1, I as in Interstellar, 1 since it is first object to enter our Solar System from the outer confines. Scientists found that the object has been emitting electromagnetic radiations not produced in nature. Though scientists haven’t arrived at unanimity with regards to its origin they found that the interstellar object is unusual for a rock. Travelling at speeds several fold more than light, it is unlikely to be bound by gravitational force of Sun. Its architecture suggests that it was designed to minimize damage from interstellar dust and gases. Based on its speed and trajectory, scientists estimated that it will soon bypass Jupiter and exit our Solar System. Investigations contended the object to be first ever craft to have visited our solar system suggesting the possibility of existence of alien civilizations. This discovery added more heft to the claims of Stephen Hawking who unequivocally believed in the existence of advanced aliens and their colonization of planets whichever they can reach. This new celestial discovery can span out be a turning point in the study of UFOs.

For decades, several scientific groups believed that UFOs are real and represent advanced technology. But none of the groups could convincingly authenticate their claims. Rapid advancements in science, synergistic cooperation between various institutions backed by financial resources is now offering new hope for UFO enthusiasts. While UFO investigation is still considered a taboo, the longing excitement to unravel vast expanses of Universe and alien civilizations continues to propel science zealots to relentlessly fathom the enchanting mysteries of unexplored realms. 

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Breaking of Antarctic Larsen C Ice Shelf: An inimical off-shoot of Climate Change

Debates of climate changed picked up traction with ignoble US president announcing the withdrawal of America from the Paris Climate Accord. Protesting the indifference of politicians towards the climate change environmentalists expressed their discontentment with massive protests at Hamburg where G-20 leaders assembled for the summit meet. Days after conclusion of the summit, European Space Agency, Sentinel-1 mission, announced that Larsen C ice-shelf, the fourth largest in the World (5800 sq km) comprising of 12% of total area of Antarctica broke off from the frozen continent.

Ice-shelves are humongous repositories which are formed when glaciers on land begin to spread out over the sea. They essentially prevent the drifting of glacial ice into sea and thereby regulate sea level rise. In general, glacial ice, chips off to form icebergs. Now snapping of 12 trillion cubic meters of ice, larger than Haryana, is believed to change the landscape of Antarctica. While the immediate effects of this event are not ominous, scientists are carefully monitoring rest of the ice-shelf closely. The ice shelf which looks like a crooked finger is pointing towards tip of the South America is an extension of huge West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). The ice-shelf when ripped off completely will exist as a 190-meter-thick iceberg nearly four times the height of Qutub Minar.

Indeed, fissures in the Larsen C ice-shelf first appeared in 2010. The tear which spread 10 meters per day gradually accelerated to 36 mt before finally snapped away on July 12th. Splintering of ice shelf has already begun and the smaller ice bergs are now heading towards Weddell Sea. Experts at Scripps Institute of Oceanography said that ice fragments might eventually move further north towards South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands.

Breaking of ice-shelf is a natural process. Antarctica ice is tightly compressed at the edges of its rocky base and under the weight of huge ice accumulations, ice shelves break off from time to time. Hence breaking of ice shelves can’t be attributed to global warming directly. But what caught the attention of the scientists is the shortened frequency of the calving (breaking of ice-shelves) process. Ice shelves which form 75% of coastal Antarctica are susceptible to changes in atmospheric temperature from above and ocean warming from below. Though the role of warm climates in triggering calving is not scientifically established as of now, experts believe don’t belie its role.

Gigantic Icy continent is firmly edged by ice-shelves which form the coastal region while glaciers impound inlands. Thwaites glaciers, a gigantic bulk of ice part of the West Antarctica Ice Sheet, located further inland has become cause of intense concern. Rapidly changing climates led to melting and sliding of the glaciers into sea pushing up sea levels. Unchecked greenhouse gas emissions accentuate melting of glaciers. It is estimated that melting of West Antarctica Ice Sheet can increase sea level by 3 meters. On the contrary, ice-shelf breaking may not increase the sea-level since this portion of ice was already in water. Volume of water produced after the ice shelf melting is equal to volume of ice that was displaced. But calving of ice-shelf and its gradual melting will greatly destabilize the land ice. Though scientists are hopeful that ice-shelf will regrow but chipping away of huge chunks of ice-shelves at regular intervals will inadvertently make Antarctica less stable. If the newly calved iceberg drifts into warm oceans, it can just long for few decades. Ice shelves act as sinks for glaciers and their calving will eventually hasten melting of glaciers leading to increase in sea-level. In 2015, a report in reputed journal Science warned that ice-shelves in Antarctica are thinning at an accelerated pace and that ice-shelves ceased to gain volume.

Larsen Shelf is named after the Norwegian explorer Carl Anton Larsen who in 1890, sailed along the 1000km western coastal stretch. The Larsen shelf comprises of distinct shelves- Larsen A, B, C and D. In 1995, Larsen A broke away and melted completely in seven years.  The 10,000 years old Larsen B separated from Antarctica in 2002 and became an iceberg. Reports showed that Larsen B calving speeded up glacier collapse by 300 to 800%. Larsen C is five times the size of Larsen B. NASA scientist Cavin Schmidt said that complete melt down of Larsen C might increase sea level by 0.1mm.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes Fifth Assessment Report (5AR), indicated that temperatures in Antarctic peninsula where Larsen-C is located, are rising four to six times that of global average. Though role of global warming wasn’t scientifically established as of now, reputed scientific journal, Nature, opined that increased human (anthropogenic) activity in Antarctica is posing new threat. Surge in number of tourists visiting Antarctica is drastically changing the delicate ecosystem of Antarctica. Especially visitors to coastal regions has increased from 1.5 million in 2004-05 to 2.6 million in 2013-14. Interestingly, Antarctica is in news recently for being the venue for first ever wedding ceremony of expedition leaders of British Antarctica Survey (BAS).

As per IPCC reports twentieth century witnessed a linear increase of sea-level caused by warmer oceans and melting glaciers. In 21^st century rise of sea-level is exponential because of melting of fast flowing glaciers and subsequent breaking of ice-shelves of Greenland and Antarctica. Already islands in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean and countries with huge coasts are facing the inimical effects of global warming. Besides the impending threats of inundation, rising sea-levels are critically endangering livelihoods of thousands of people living along the coasts. Fertile cultivable lands are rendered barren by salty depositions. Fresh water resources are becoming salty. 

Mounting evidences unequivocally indicate that unscrupulous human activity has irrevocably disturbed delicate balance of nature. The irreversible damage can be controlled through collective action and committed nurture. It is time international collaboration be ramped up to tame the disastrous cycle of events triggered by global warming. But sadly, overpowered by ritualistic nationalism, America, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases is dragging its feet. Abdicating responsibilities towards environment will push us closer to a brink of self-inflicted catastrophic consequences. Calving of Antarctic ice-shelf is an inimical distress signal lest the World choses to brush it off at its own peril.

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ISRO creates a World record by launching 104 satellites

ISRO reached yet another milestone. From its splendid journey of transporting the rockets on the bullock carts to reaching the stars, the persistence, dedication, and commitment of scientists has transformed the organization into an epitome of excellence. ISRO today scripted history by sending 104 satellites into space in a single go. On January 4^th 2017, ISRO announced that India will launch 104 satellites in one go at the Indian Science Congress held at Tirupati. Since then there has been a palpable excitement among the scientific community. ISRO had steadily climbed the ladder of competitive global markets of small satellite launching with an incredible consistency and economy. It is now reckoned as an iconic leader in commercial satellite launches. ISRO last year launched 20 satellites in one go.  Russian rocket launcher Dpner, a transformed inter-continental ballistic missile by launching a maximum of 39 satellites into space in a single launch in June 2014 created a record. NASA in 2013 launched 29 satellites. With Tuesday’s launch ISRO aims to surpass the earlier records. ISRO with its upcoming launch aims to display India’s satellite launching prowess.

PSLV- C37, the heaviest of all the PSLV series of rocket launchers lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR, Sriharikota on Feb 15^th at 9:28 carrying 104 satellites. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) which has already earned a distinct reputation for its reliability and accuracy was specially designed to carry all these satellites. PSLV the formidable work-horse of ISRO in its XL configuration was assigned with the task of delivering the payloads.

PSLV-C37 weighing 320 ton and 44.4 m tall is a four-staged rocket launcher. On its thirty-ninth flight, 103 co-passengers accompanied the primary satellite Cartosat-2 series. Cartosat-2 with a work life of 5 years, weighing 714kg is an earth observation satellite like other four satellites in its series. This was injected into 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit and will soon resume its remote sensing services using its panchromatic and multispectral cameras. These images are used for cartographic applications and for monitoring road networks, water distribution and land use. It was designed to monitor activities across India’s hostile borders. The other two Indian satellites are the ISRO nano satellites- INS 1A and INS 1B. They are designed for scientific experimentation. INS 1A, with six-month mission life, weighing 8.4kg has two pay loads - Surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function Radiometer and Single Event Upset Monitor. INS 1B, with six-month life cycle, weighs 9.7 kg and carries two pays - Earth Exosphere Lyman Alpha Analyzer and Origami Camera.

Of the remaining 101 satellites- 96 are from US, others are from Kazakhstan, Israel, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and UAE.  The total weight of all satellites on board PSLV-C37 is 1378 kg.  Satellites from US are mostly DOVE Flock-3P (designed and operated by Planet Inc) fleet of remote sensing satellites designed to earth every day for commercial, environmental, and humanitarian purposes and LEMUR satellites of Spire Global Inc are meant for weather measurements and tracking vessels using Automatic Identification System (AIS). The average weight of DOVE and LEMUR satellites is around 4.7 kg. Satellites from other countries are basically for technology demonstration and weigh less than 4.5 kg.

Though ISRO has convincingly demonstrated its impeccable scientific mettle earlier by sending 20 satellites simultaneously, the latest feat is five times more challenging. Science enthusiasts are increasingly curious as how ISRO will carry out this exceedingly excruciating task of putting 100 odd satellites into different orbits with precision. Dr. K. Sivan, director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre explained that “the satellites will be separated from the launch vehicle in different directions. The separation angle and time of separation will be such that one satellite will not collide with another”. He pondered that each satellite separated from launch vehicle will have a relative velocity of one meter per second. So, the distance between satellite and vehicle after 1000 seconds will be 1000 meters. “The satellite that gets launched first will move at relatively faster velocity than the next satellite that is launched. Due to different relative velocities, the distance between the satellites will increase continuously but the orbit will be the same”. Thus, a degree of difference in separation angle together with relative velocity would ensure that no two satellites would ever collide. Further care would be taken for the orbital disturbances to die before preparing the satellite for separation. Moreover, “satellites will be injected into orbit at different locations at different angles, at different times and different orientations”. In less than 600 seconds, all satellites travelling at velocity of 27,000km per hour will be released into space. This scientific spectacle would thus be internationally judged for its immaculate execution.

ISRO’s resilient journey marred by several debacles over the decades had steadily acclaimed scientific reputation due to the phenomenal success rate of the trusted work-horse PSLV. India’s rapid march towards space exploration with its projects Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan has placed India among the elite group of technologically advanced countries. Satellite launching industry is growing at a tremendous pace. As of now there are few reliable players in the market. India till now has launched 122 satellites of which 79 are of foreign payloads. From 2011 till August 2016, the commercial wing of ISRO, Antrix Corporation made a profit of Rs 896 crores. ISRO at present is carrying out 5-6 launches and plans to increase launches to 18 to substantially increase its revenue. ISRO’s current launch slated for Feb 15^th, if successful will greatly boost its position in the global satellite launching market.

ISRO is all now gearing up for much bolder space missions. Accordingly, government has increased fund allocation to Department of Space by 26% making provisions for Mars Orbiter Mission-II and Mission to Venus. France has expressed willingness to collaborate with ISRO for the second Mars mission slated for 2021-22. NASA is willing to partner with ISRO in India’s maiden voyage to Venus, the planet named after Goddess of love and beauty.

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India’s tryst with Antarctica

Antarctica, the fifth largest, uninhabited, southern most planet of Earth holding 75% of freshwater reserves continues to enchant scientific community. The inhospitable conditions, extreme weather conditions (extreme cold, dryness and windiness) haven’t deterred the spirits of the nations to explore the humongous diversity of fauna and flora of the “white continent” with no sovereign status. As early as 350 BC, Greeks predicted the existence of a landmass in the Southern most end of like the Arctic in the North. Antarctica is named after Greek word, antarktike, meaning opposite of North. Spanning the Antarctica circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, the continent formed 25 million years ago, is spread over an area of 14 million square km. Almost 98% of the continent is covered with ice which is 1.5km thick. If all the ice of Antarctica melts, sea levels will rise by about 60mts. Like other continents, Antarctica has several geographical features like valleys, glaciers, mountains, volcanoes, rivers and lakes. Recent reports of breakdown of Western Antarctica ice sheet raised several concerns.  Being a cold desert with annual precipitation of 200mm, the continent is devoid of native inhabitants. As of 2016, around 1000 to 5000 people from 135 countries are residing the region. None of them stay there permanently and members of scientific expeditions are periodically substituted to carry out research activities.

In 1773, Captain James Cook first discovered this extremely vast and rather unique continent while he was crossing the Antarctica circle. Later expeditions from US, UK, Russia, Australia, New Zealand circumnavigated the continent to explore the marine life, sub Antarctica islands and to map the region. Unlike the Arctic region which was explored for its mineral and oil wealth, less is known about Antarctica till the late 19^th century. In 1947, US under the Operation Highjump sent largest ever expedition to the region. Gradually other countries started making forays into the region while Britain, France, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina laid claims on Antarctica. To stave off territorial claims and ban military& mining activities on the continent, Antarctic Treaty System was instituted in 1959 which entered force in 1961. 53 countries are party to the treaty as of 2016. It basically defined the continent as all the land and ice shelves south of 60˚S latitude as a scientific preserve and established freedom of scientific investigation. The original 12 signatories included the countries which were on Antarctica during the International Geographical Year (IGY) 1957-58. Apart from the aforementioned seven countries, the list included-Belgium, Japan, South Africa, Soviet Union and the US. India became party to the treaty in 1983 with the establishment of its first research station Dakshina Gangotri. The treaty didn’t recognize claims of nations, upheld the principle of common heritage of mankind and soon established a secretariat at Buenos Aries in 2004.

Dakshina Gangotri

 Antarctica is believed to be part of the southerly supercontinent Gondwana, the part containing all landmasses of Southern hemisphere. Around 140 million years ago, Africa and South America split from Gondwana under severe strain with South Atlantic Ocean separating them. From the Eastern-half Madagascar split from India, Australia and Antarctica together moved down South. Until about 45 million years ago, both clung together, Antarctica began to freeze while Australia drifted northward. Even now Australia continues to move North 1.2 inches every year. The landmass which is now the cold continent was once home to lush evergreen rain forests. Due to the extreme cold temperatures of Antarctica all the organisms that existed were fossilized and preserved in perfect conditions. Scientific community enthusiasm stems from the prospect of exploring fossilized remains, meteorites etc. Also ,  Antarctic skies are clear and free of radio interference and hence ideally suited for deep space research, satellite tracking and has a great potential for covert surveillance. Though a ban was imposed on militarization of the continent US, Chile, Argentina already have permanent military bases. Countries like China, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan are using their bases “for dual-use, scientific research that is useful for military purposes”.

India after the victory of the 1971 Bangladesh war, wanted to assert its global status and steadily harbored a secret ambition to reach the south pole and setup a research station at Antarctica. To realize this dream, a young researcher from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Paramjit Singh Shera was deputed to join the 17^th Soviet Antarctica expedition. The joint agreements between ISRO and Hydro meteorological Centre of Russia, laid the foundations for India’s Antarctic Expeditions. In 1977, Indira Gandhi commissioned a study in 1977 for establishing a station at Antarctica. In May 1981, department of Ocean Development was setup and Operation Gangotri was unveiled. India launched its first expedition in December 1981 which took off from Goa. Hiring an ice-cutter MV Polar Circle from Norway, the expedition headed by Dr. Syed Zahoor Qasim with 21 scientists, personnel, technicians, and Naval officers covered 21,366 km in 77 days and landed in Antarctica. By 1983, India built its first base in Antarctica-Dakshina Gangotri. After establishing base in Antarctica, India ratified the Antarctic Treaty as a consulting member. India’s successful Operation Gangotri caught the developed World by surprise. India has become member of Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) in 1986. Before 1988, a close group of 12 signatories exerted full control over Antarctica. By ratifying treaty, India advocated for the Third World to be part of Antarctic Governance. India also favored abrogation of Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities and supported the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (AEP). Consequently, all the countries that laid claims on Antarctica had to disband their mining plans. India ratified AEP in 1992 reaffirming its commitment to protecting the environment of Antarctica.

MV Polar Circle

India’s first permanent base Dakshin Gangotri was setup during the third annual expedition 1983-84 at Princess Astrid Coast. It was a double-storey station had fully equipped laboratories to carry out studies in meteorology, seismology, geology, glaciology, microbiology, acoustics, and oceanography. Ever since establishment of the base, annual expeditions to Antarctica have become a regular feature. Unfortunately, India had to abandon the base in 1990 due to inundation.

India commissioned second permanent station Maitri in 1989 in the rocky Schirmacher Region, East of Antarctica. It is surrounded by one of the biggest fresh water lake-Lake Zublake or Priyadarshini. After its establishment, in 1990-91 over 250 scientists and Naval personnel over wintered. By 1990, studies at Antarctica have become more inter-disciplinary and several prestigious Indian Institutes participated in the annual expeditions. Slowly the studies have become more environmental centric with issues like depletion of ozone layer, monitoring UV-B radiation, greenhouse effect dominating the agenda. Ministry of Earth Sciences in 1998 established a nodal agency, The National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research (NCAOR) to implement India’s Antarctic Program, monitor the maintenance of permanent station, establish National Antarctic Data Centre and Polar Museum.

Maitri

By 2012, India has setup another permanent research station Bharati using 134 recycled shipping containers. It is located 3500km east of Maitri with core areas of research on tectonics, oceanography, and geological structures. The research focus of Bharati is to understand the phenomenon of continental breakup and to collect evidences of shared history of India and Antarctica. (Both shared same coastlines and were part of supercontinent Gondwanaland). Bharati built from prefabricated shipping containers, has an ambient working temperature inside so that researchers can work comfortably irrespective of the harsh temperatures outside. The temperatures range from -89C in Winter to -25 C in summer. Over 35 scientists and 10 Army personnel stay throughout the year in this station. It can be disassembled without leaving a trace of brick and completely conforms to AEP.

Bharati

To facilitate polar expeditions India has a set of Ocean Research Vehicles (ORV). The phenomenal contributions of ORV Sagar Kanya constructed in 1983 and ORV Sagar Nidhi commissioned in 2008 are highly reckoned.

ORV Sagar Nidhi

NASA, National Science Foundation (NSF) and Smithsonian Institution through Antarctic Search for Meteorite Program (ANSMET) recently renewed search for meteorites in the cold continent, to know more about the primitive building blocks of the solar system. ANSMET so far collected 23,000 specimens. Countries are keenly monitoring Antarctic ice sheets since they have larger implications on climate change. Any rapid meltdown of ice will cause steep rise in sea levels.  Antarctica has become a testing and acclimatization ground for astronauts traveling to space. The desert like conditions of Antarctica closely resemble the conditions on the surface of Mars. NASA has tested robots to be launched on Mars in Antarctica. More recently the Commission for Conservation of Antarctic Marine Resources announced a marine protected area of 598,000 sq miles in Ross Sea. The region also called “Last Ocean” is largely untouched by humans and its nutrient rich water are home to around 16,000 species.

Scientific advancement has come a long way. Gone are those days when people were skeptical of exploring rather frigid, desolate and forbidding lands. Thanks to rapid sophistication and innovation, scientific community is keen on embarking polar expedition to understand and unravel the mysteries of unexplored lands.

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In Search of Alien Life

Advancements in science rapidly augured human efforts to unravel the mysteries of the outer space and opened up new vistas of exploring celestial structures. Among various aspects of space exploration, the possibility of excavating the presence of alien life caught the imagination of astronomers. To satiate the unquenchable thirst of exploring the extra-terrestrial life, Nations invested heavily in the development of sophisticated scientific instruments. Overwhelmed by astounding curiosity of “are we alone?”. Thousands of enthusiastic space observers embarked on the mission of tracing the alien life. Sadly, researchers couldn’t detect any life form in our solar system. Undaunted by the loneliness within our Solar System, scientists redoubled efforts to look beyond the confines of our Solar System. 

Astronomers soon envisioned projects to unravel mysteries of alien life. Yuri Milner, a Russian billionaire, a science enthusiastic, spearheaded a pioneering mission in this direction. In July 2015, roping in an illustrious group of alien-hunters and leading astronomers launched the biggest ever $100 million Breakthrough Listen Project to conduct intensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Engineers soon built digital processing equipment to handle the vast amounts of data collected by telescopes. Besides, the Breakthrough Listen project, around 9 million volunteers across the World dedicated computer time for the SETI@Home project that separates data for signals that are not from natural sources. Indeed, in 1967, astronomer Joceyln Bell Burnell tracked rapid radio signals from outer space and believed that they were coming from advanced civilizations. But soon it turned out that they were transmissions from a spinning neutron stars culminating in discovery of pulsating radio stars or pulsars. To avoid these false calls, all transmissions henceforth were confirmed by second observatory. To potentially circumvent the footfalls in detection of intelligent life elsewhere astronomers are currently using The 100mt-Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia, the largest steerable telescope on the Planet and 64mt-The Parkes Observatory New South Wales that can pick up sensitive radio signals emitted 25 trillion kilometers away. Using these state-of-art telescopes researchers began scanning hundreds of galaxies in our Milky Way and millions of planets orbiting stars’ closest to Earth under the Breakthrough Listen project. This initiative with a life span of 10 years is almost 50 times more sensitive than SETI research.

Another interesting initiative launched by Yuri Milner includes Breakthrough Message which establishes an international competition open to all, to create digital messages, encoding description of human life, civilization and about our planet. This initiative aims at developing potential languages for interstellar communication. But these messages will not be transmitted as renowned Physicist Stephen Hawking warned against communicating with alien life for he strongly believes that life forms reading our messages would be several billion years ahead of us. So they might be powerful. He also cautioned that researchers should be very cautious in answering alien signals and drew allegory to Native Americans first interaction with Christopher Columbus which didn’t turn out so well. He believed that alien intelligent forms are likely to conquer and colonize our planet. But various scientists expressed contradictory opinions that aliens who are capable to travelling across the Universe might be more sophisticated and friendly.

Joining this elite of Space exploration is the most advanced China’s Five hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) radio telescope officially inaugurated on September 25^th. Built at a cost of 1.2 yuan and nestled in natural gorges of the South-western province of Guizhou in China, it is now officially the World’s largest single-dish radio telescope pushing the 305mt wide- Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to second position. FAST is 10 times more sensitive than Arecibo.

In tune with its aspirations of symbolizing economic prosperity, China is now making rapid strides in the arena of science and technology. While the project was mooted in 1993, it took 10 years for scientists to collective at a concrete plan of constructing the World’s biggest spherical telescope and to settle on place of construction. Finally, they decided on building the telescope in a natural formation of mountains assembled like an equilateral triangle wherein the large dish could be positioned in the valley like a cup. Constructed in a span of five years, local officials have cleared the area of human habitation to avoid any interference in monitoring radio signals by officially relocation 10,000 people within the range of 5km. Vouching for its scientific authenticity, the telescope in test run had detected radio waves emitted by a pulsar over 1351 light years away. FAST equipped with 4,450 panels is believed to be a greatest bet in searching for intelligent alien life. Unlike other radio telescopes it is not completely steerable, instead each of the triangular panels can be adjusted allowing scientists to study the sky in parts.

Equipped with a data system developed at International Centre for Radio Astronomy (ICRAR) in Perth and European Southern Observatory, it can manage hundred thousand 32GB data a year. The Next Generation Archive System (NGAS) will aid in detection of spinning neutron stars, the products of supernova explosions and in looking for signs of alien life. The search for alien life in the past six decades through detection of radio signals failed to provide any significant evidence. A strong signal identified by a Russian Radio telescope last month stirred up sudden interest and now sensitive detection capabilities of FAST is offering a new hope.

Moreover, with astronomers detecting three potentially habitable earth sized-planets the probability of finding alien life have increased tremendously. To make FAST fully operational it will need three years of calibration. With this colossal telescope, China has undeniably entered into the new realm of scientific renaissance. As of now, the colossal telescope can assure China of scripting new scientific records of winning Nobel-Prizes since detection of alien life is not on the agenda. But with scientific community engaged in SETI is keen on collaboration, FAST can emerge as game changer is search for alien life.

 Besides, astronomers, common man is also enamored by the existence of alien life. In a bid to satiate inherent curiosity, makers of motion pictures began portraying the exhilarations of interacting and establishing bridges of communication with the alien life forms. Indeed, the maestros of Hollywood, Bollywood and animation movie creators unveiled engineered creatures on big screens to enthrall common man. The plausible presence of alien life generated a sheer fascination towards exobiology for some. While the existence of advanced civilizations in this universe is still hugely debated, none wants to miss the excitement and adventure of exploring the space for companions, since human beings are social animals. But as of now the existence of alien life is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of science.

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12-year long Rosetta Mission comes to an end with Spacecraft diving into the Comet

Perhaps nothing can quench boundless human curiosity and enthusiasm other than the amazing feats of science that enamour inquisitive mind. The incredible power of science by bestowing wings to power of imagination and creativity of mankind ushered scientific ilk into a new world of exciting innovations and discoveries. The exhilarating, imagination defying feats of space explorations send shudders of excitement that enthral science enthusiasts and researchers as well. One such mission that marvelled the scientific community with phenomenal accomplishments was the Rosetta mission. On Sep 30^th the $1.46 billion mission successfully ended its illustrious 12-year long journey in the space by diving into the Comet 67P as planned.

The Mission

The International Rosetta Mission was approved in November 1993 by the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Science Program Committee as part of Planetary Corner Stone Mission under its long term space Science Program. The mission was originally scheduled for a rendezvous with the comet 46 P/Wiratenin but due to postponement of launch of the spacecraft twice, the new target was comet 67 P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Comet was named after the discoverers Klim Churyumov and Svetlana Gerasimenko who first identified it in September 1969. The mission was aptly named after Rosetta Stone, the slab of volcanic basalt that provided the key to unravel the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Similarly, Scientists hoped that Rosetta mission would unfold mysteries of oldest building blocks of solar system, the Comets.

Comet Exploration

Comets are small icy bodies which originate either in the Oort Cloud that exist far beyond the orbit of the Pluto or from the Kuiper Belt located beyond the orbit of Neptune and releases gas or dust. When comets pass close to the sun they get heated up and begin to outgas thus displaying visible atmosphere or Coma and sometimes a tail. Usually the dust consists of ice, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and more. Evolutionary biologists believed that numerous comets impounded the surface of fledging Earth 4.6 billion years ago bringing with them water and other organic compounds needed for generation of life on Earth. A critical analysis of the comet mass would help understand in detail the evolution of the solar system and presence of extraterrestrial life. Comet 67 P believed to have originated from Kuiper belt belongs to Jupiter Family Comets is controlled by Jupiter’s gravity. Due to collisions or gravitational perturbations these icy bodies are ejected from the Kuiper belt and fall towards sun.

Rosetta Space Craft

Rosetta is a robotic spacecraft launched on 2^nd March 2004 by the Ariane V rocket. It has two main elements: The Rosetta Space probe orbiter with 12 scientific instruments and Philae, a robotic lander had additional 5 instruments. It was designed to both orbit and land on the comet for a detailed study of the comet. Before entering a phase of hibernation in June 2011 when the instruments on board were powered down to conserve energy, it made three flybys of Earth and one flyby of Mars in 2007. It had passed by two asteroids: 2867 Steins in 2008 and 21 Lutetia in 2010. It created a buzz in the scientific community by waking up to a pre-set alarm after 31 months of hibernation on January 20^th 2014 to begin its rendezvous in space with the comet 67P. After 10 years, five months and four days it orbited around Sun for five times traversed a distance of 6 billion kilometres. Rosetta took 10 years to reach the Comet. Moreover, it was travelling at much faster speeds which couldn’t ever be reached by spacecrafts leaving the Earth. Hence since its launch in 2004, Rosetta used the gravity of Earth and Mars as a slingshot to pick up the acceleration needed to enter the Comet’s trajectory. All the operations are controlled from the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) Darmstadt, Germany.

Philae’s touch down with the Comet

The succeeding events post-hibernation were meticulously planned wherein the robotic lander Philae of Rosetta was all set to land on the surface of the comet. Accordingly, Rosetta slowed down to enter an orbit around the Comet in May 2014.  Landing was planned from the sunward side of the orbit to encounter less dust and reduce impact of a hard collision on Philae. On 6^th August 2014 Rosetta had rendezvous with Comet 67P and after closer study of surface properties of Comet, exact site of landing was decided. In August 2014, Rosetta became the first spacecraft to orbit around a comet. By September the distance between Comet and Rosetta was reduced by series of burns on its thrusters. As Rosetta was closing nearer to Comet another major challenge was communication. Since the radio transmission signals travelling at a speed of light took 45 minutes to reach the nearest Gold Stone radio dish in California.  It was also decided that Philae will touch down on the site Agilika, a place located on smaller lobe of Comet.

On November 12^th 2014, Rosetta accomplished scientifically challenging mission in the history of the space explorations so far. At nearly 500 million Kilometers distance from Earth, between Mars and Jupiter, 100kg Philae lander ejected from the spacecraft Rosetta and landed on the Comet surface. In common parlance, it was a process, wherein tried to transfer an object from one speeding bullet train to another. Both of them are flying at a speed of 65,000 km an hour. The task is onerous as crucial details like the densities, surface atmosphere of the Comet and other details of the landing site are not known. Moreover, the unusual double lobed shape of the Comet was not known until the rendezvous with the Comet.

Rosetta pictures indicated that surface of the comet was highly undulated with wicked slopes and elevated rocks. Comet was believed to be 4 kilometers wide, orbits around Sun in 6.6years with average temperature of -70C. Philae piggybacking on Rosetta separated from its mother, from a distance of 12 kilometers from comet with unfolded legs. To escape the weak gravity of comet Philae was endowed with Harpoons to anchor the Comet’s surface. Philae was designed to land on a slope of 30 degrees and once anchored it was supposed to transmit high-resolution pictures of the comet’s surface and perform analysis of Comet’s surface. The instruments on board can dig the surface and heat them to measure their properties. Unfortunately, the harpoons failed to fire upon landing so it bounced three times before settling down under a shadow of cliff in Abydos region. As a result, solar panels failed to provide enough energy for carrying out any analysis. Though Philae managed to send few images in the next days, it went silent on 14^th November 2014. Fortunately, the lander was revived on June 13^th 2015, when the Comet moved closer to Sun. It was observed that Philae had been collecting enough samples all the while but didn’t have enough power to send signals.

During this period Rosetta was tracking the Comet and conducting analyses of gases emitted by it, studying its atmosphere and gravity. Last month Rosetta again tracked Philae. Now with Comet heading towards Jupiter and Rosetta powered by Solar Panels wouldn’t have enough energy to keep up, scientists have decided to annul the program by allowing Rosetta to gently dive into the Comet.  Since comet surface is porous, Rosetta’s fall would be rather a slow-motion collision rather than a violent crash. Controlled impact gave scientists a chance to observe the surface properties of the Comet more clearly and till to the last minute, the spacecraft was sending back lots of images. The final landing place was a smooth patch in the head region of duck-shaped comet. The speed upon impact was close to walking speed pace. The end of the mission was signaled by blank computer screens and absence radio signal chatter.

Accomplishments of Rosetta Mission

Till now, Rosetta mission had successfully carried out its objectives of global characterization of asteroids, determination of their dynamic properties, surface morphology and composition. Analysis of data relayed by Rosetta, indicated that comets are not no longer dirty snowballs. But snowy dust ball, harboring organic compounds, carbon-based molecules the building blocks of life. The northern hemisphere of Comet’s nucleus was filled with dunes and ripples similar to that on Venus, Earth and Venus. It doesn’t have robust atmosphere and high gravity but has structures resembling sand dunes.

It was found that Comet 67P was darker than Charcoal without much water and ice. Northern hemisphere is relatively warm compared to southern hemisphere indicating existence of seasons. Researchers are currently busy analyzing the huge quantities of data collected by Rosetta and are hopeful of hitting at robust clues about the origins of Earth. Comets are basically the remnants of debris existing in space after creation of Solar System. Thus, this mission is extraordinary for its miraculous adventures in space and for overwhelming exhilaration it generated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHPPToSNdik

Earlier Cometary Explorations

Cometary explorations began in 1978 with the launch of NASA’s International Cometary Explorer. It passed the tail of Comet Giacoinni-Zinner and Comet Halley. It was followed by two Russian probes, Vega-1 and Vega-2 in 1984; Japanese twin spacecrafts Sakigake and Suisei (1985); ESA’s Giotto in 1985. NASA’s missions include- Deep Space 1(1998), Stardust (1999), Contour (2002), Deep Impact (2005) which was retired in 2010. Rosetta is the first mission that attempted to land on the nucleus of comet.

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ISRO masters Multi-Burn Technology through PSLV-C35

ISRO has mastered the multi-burn technology by successfully placing satellites into two different orbits. The advanced version of the ISRO’s workhorse PSLV-C35 during the launch on September 26^th hoisted 8 satellites into multiple orbits.

About PSLV-35

PSLV made its debut in 1993, over the years earned a formidable reputation for its consistent performance. PSLV vehicles capitalizes on the unique advantage of using a combination of solid rocket motors and liquid-fuelled engines. PSLV known to be reliable and effective launch vehicle so far had delivered payloads in straight mission and never attempted to accommodate flexible missions where payloads are deployed into different orbits. Lifting satellites to different orbits invariably requires multiple restarts. The current PSLV mission was designed accommodate this feature. Consequently, engineers reworked the design of the L-2-5 engines in the upper stage of PSLV responsible for multiple start. This was achieved by developing new propellant handling techniques so that propellant would settle prior to engine start-up so that engines would take only liquid propellants and no gas bubbles. Moreover, additional power margins are included in PS4 (Upper stage) for extended coast periods so that PSLV can conduct missions for long hours. Initial tests for restarting of the upper stage were conducted in December 2015. After its successful performance in initial tests, a second round of tests set stage for final flight were completed in June 2016. After a green signal from the Launch Authorisation Board (LAB), the flight was conducted on Monday. Multi-burn technology involves switching on and off of rocket engines endowing the launch vehicle the ability to deliver satellites to two different orbits.

In its longest missions conducted so far that lasted for 2hrs 15 minutes and 33 seconds, PSLV-C35 weighing 320 tons and measuring 44.4mts lifted off from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, SHAR, Sriharikota, carrying eight satellites of total weight 675 kg. The major Indian weather satellite SCATSAT-1 weighing 371kg was deployed into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO) at an inclination of 98.1 degrees over the equator.  While the two other Indian satellites PRATHAM (10 Kg) developed by IIT B students and PISAT (5.25kg) constructed by PES University, Bangalore and five other foreign satellites were placed in a 689 Km Polar Orbit at 98.21-degree inclination. PRATHAM was aimed at estimating the Total Electron Count (TEC) and PISAT Nanosatellite was constructed for remote sensing applications.

On its 37^th mission PSLV-C35, after a flight of around 17 minutes, SCATSAT-1 separated from the PSLV fourth stage. After separation solar panels were deployed automatically and ISRO’s Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) and Bangalore took over the control of the satellite. SCATSAT is a continuity to the Ocean SAT-II Scatterometer (popularly termed as Oscat) launched in September 2009 to provide wind vector data products for weather forecasting, cyclone detection and tracking services to users. This Earth observation satellite carries a ku-band Scatterometer similar to OceanSat-II and has mission life of 5 years.  OScat was the first microwave remote sensing satellite. It earned global repute for contributing the areas of wind-retreival, weather-forecasting, cyclone-tracking and prediction. It accurately predicted Cyclone Phalin that hit Odisha and avoided loss of human life. The 17 minutes’ ascent for deployment of SCATSAT involved standard patterns of flight and was relatively hassle-free. But the PSLV still had the task of placing the seven other satellites in a different orbit.

Post SCATSAT deployment

The PSLV began to coast over the South Polar region and then ascended towards the Northern Hemisphere. After a gap of one hour 22 minutes, when the PSLV is in North polar region, the two engines of the PS4 were reignited and fired for 20 seconds. As a result, it entered into an elliptical orbit which is 725km from one side of the earth and 685 km from other side. Again after 50 min, when PS4 was coasting in the South Polar region, engines were fired for another 20 seconds. This second firing propelled the rocket to enter the circular orbit of 669 km altitude with an inclination of 98.21 degree. Within the next three minutes the dual launcher adapter separated from PSLV fourth stage and the first satellite to separate was ALSAT-1N followed by NLS-19, PRATHAM, PISAT, ALSAT-1B, ALSAT-2B and PATHFINDER-1.

Foreign Satellites

Other than PRATHAM and PISAT which are of Indian origin, rest of them belonged to international customers. ALSAT series satellites are from Algeria. The 103 kg, ALSAT 1B earth observation satellite aids in environment and disaster monitoring, ALSAT-2B weighing 117 kg is a high resolution remote sensing satellite with panchromatic and multispectral imaging capability and the 7kg ALSAT-1N is a Nanosatellite built by students for technology demonstration. NLS-19 is 8kg Canadian Nanosatellite used to perform experiments for reducing the space debris and tracking commercial aircraft. Finally, the PATHFINDER-1 of Black Sky Global of Seattle, is a 44kg American microsatellite used for commercial high resolution imaging. With this PSLV-C35 launch, ISRO has so far delivered 42 Indian payloads and 79 foreign satellites. As a precedent ISRO conducts four PSLV launch missions. This launch was fifth PSLV launch, a record for this year and seems to be in line with ISRO’s long term goals for PSLV of carrying out 6 to 8 launches a year to gradually shift the vehicle’s satellite services for commercial purposes. Europe’s Vega rocket clocking seven successful launches this year emerged as stiff competitor for PSLV. Vega operators are aiming to increase their launches to 10 per a year. Similarly, Khurinchev Space Centre of Moscow and its commercial wing, International Launch Services of Reston, Virginia with the announcement of two variant Proton Launch Vehicles for small satellites is also offering tough competition to ISRO. While ISRO undoubtedly has immense cost benefit ratio over the rest, they must indeed work really hard to stay ahead in the commercial satellite launching market.

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