SPACE

ISRO’s Milestone in Gaganyaan Mission

• Human-Rating of CE20 Cryogenic Engine: ISRO has successfully completed the human rating of the CE20 engine, essential for the Gaganyaan mission.

About CE-20 Cryogenic Engine

• Design and Development: Created by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), a subsidiary of ISRO.
• Application: To power the Cryogenic Upper Stage of the LVM3 launch vehicle for Mission Gaganyaan, aimed at manned space missions in 2024.
• Features:
  • First Indian cryogenic engine using a gas-generator cycle.
  • Classified among the world’s most potent upper-stage cryogenic engines.
  • Produces a nominal thrust of 186.36 kN in vacuum conditions.

Understanding Cryogenic Stages

• Complexity: Cryogenic stages involve technical challenges due to the use of propellants at extremely low temperatures, leading to thermal and structural issues.
• Propellant Characteristics: Utilizes liquid oxygen (boiling point: -183°C) and hydrogen (boiling point: -253°C).
• Efficiency and Thrust: Offers higher efficiency and more thrust per kilogram of propellant burned compared to solid and liquid propellant stages that are storable at room temperature.

Gaganyaan Mission

• Mission Objective: To send a crew of three into a 400 km orbit for three days and ensure their safe return to Earth.

Aditya L1: India’s First Space-Based Solar Mission

• Mission Overview: Aditya L1 is designed to study the Sun from a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth system’s Lagrange point 1 (L1), approximately 1.5 million km from Earth.
• Advantage: The orbit enables continuous solar observation without occultation/eclipses, enhancing real-time solar activity and space weather monitoring.
• Payloads: Equipped with seven payloads for observing the Sun’s photosphere, chromosphere, and corona through electromagnetic, particle, and magnetic field detectors.

Scientific Goals

• Coronal Studies: Understanding coronal heating, coronal mass ejection (CME), pre-flare and flare activities, and their impact on space weather.
• Particle and Field Propagation: Investigating the propagation effects of solar dynamics in the interplanetary medium.

PAYLOADS ON ADITYA L1

Lagrange Points

Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. These can be used by spacecraft as “parking spots” in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption.

ASTROSAT

ASTROSAT is a multi-wavelength astronomy mission on an IRS-class satellite in a 650-km, near-equatorial orbit. It was launched by the Indian launch vehicle PSLV from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on September 28, 2015. The expected operating life time of the satellite will be more than five years.

News: India’s pioneering space astronomy observatory, AstroSat, has facilitated an international team of scientists in uncovering the enigmatic nature of the X-ray binary system known as MAXI J1820+070, home to a black hole, announced ISRO. X-ray binaries, named for their emission of X-rays, comprise a normal star and a collapsed star, which may manifest as a white dwarf, neutron star, or a black hole, as per NASA. MAXI J1820+070 is identified as a low-mass X-ray binary housing a black hole as a compact entity. 

Bhuvan-Based Tool GROW for Agroforestry Development in India

• Development: India has created a Bhuvan-based tool to assess Agroforestry Suitability, a joint effort led by NITI Aayog, ISRO, and five other national and international institutions. (Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW)-Suitability Mapping)
• Purpose: The tool aims for the greening and restoration of wastelands through agroforestry, making state and district-level data widely accessible.

Features of the Tool

• Integration: Combines thematic geospatial datasets like Wastelands, Land Use Land Cover, Waterbodies, Soil Organic Carbon, and Slope to form the Agroforestry Suitability Index (ASI).
• Analysis Outcome: Identifies 6.18% of India’s land as highly suitable and 4.91% as moderately suitable for agroforestry.

State Rankings

• Large States: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana are top for agroforestry suitability.
• Medium-sized States: Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, and Nagaland are leading among medium-sized states.

Portal and Report Launch

• Launch Date: NITI Aayog released the tool and the “Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW)” report on February 12.
• Accessibility: Greening and Restoration of Wasteland with Agroforestry (GROW)-Suitability Mapping portal provides universal access to agroforestry data at the state and district level, benefiting agricultural practitioners, NGOs, startups, and researchers.

Agroforestry in India

• Current Coverage: Agroforestry spans 8.65% of India’s total geographical area, amounting to about 28.42 million hectares.
• Potential Benefits: Emphasizes the conversion of underutilized lands, particularly wastelands, into agroforestry areas.

National and Global Commitments

• Restoration Goal: Aims to restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 and create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2.
• Policies and Agreements: Supports the National Agroforestry Policy (2014), Paris Agreement, Bonn Challenge, UN SDGs, UNCCD, and the Green India Mission, promoting sustainability and land use system profitability.

ISRO’s Cartosat-2 De-orbiting Completion

• Announcement: ISRO has successfully completed the de-orbiting of Cartosat-2, marking the first high-resolution imaging satellite of the generation II series to be de-orbited.

Cartosat-2 Satellite Series Overview

• Series Initiation: The Cartosat-2 series began in 2005, focusing on remote-sensing capabilities.
• Applications: Primarily used for mapping with varying image resolutions, including coarse, medium, and high.

Latest Cartosat-2 (Generation II) Satellite Details

• Launch Date: Launched in January 2007.
• Orbit: Polar, sun-synchronous, completing approximately 14.78 orbits around Earth daily.
• Technology: Equipped with over 12,000 coupled charged devices.
• Capabilities: Featured panchromatic and multi-spectral cameras for high-resolution imaging.
• Usage: Images were used for urban planning, coastal management, infrastructure monitoring (roads and water distribution), land use mapping, and supporting GIS and LIS applications.
• Operational Period: The satellite was actively used until 2019.

ISRO’s X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XpoSat) Launch

• Launch Announcement: ISRO has launched XpoSat, its first X-ray Polarimeter Satellite, to study X-ray polarization from cosmic sources like Black Holes, Neutron Stars, and Magnetars.
• Launch Vehicle: The satellite was launched aboard the PSLV-C58 rocket into Low Earth Orbit.

XpoSat Mission Details

• Purpose: XPoSat aims to analyze X-ray polarization in the medium X-ray band, enhancing understanding of the radiation mechanisms and geometry of celestial sources.
• Significance: The mission is pivotal for grasping the physics of celestial bodies.
• Payloads:
  • POLIX: Designed to observe around 40 bright astronomical sources.
  • XSPECT: Focuses on studying the electromagnetic spectrum emitted by various forms of matter.

Development and Global Context

• Development: XPoSat was developed by ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Centre and Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru, with project initiation in 2008 and formal agreement with ISRO in 2015.
• Global Standing: XPoSat is the world’s second dedicated mission to medium X-ray band X-ray polarization, following NASA’s IXPE mission launched in 2021.

National Contribution

• Space-based Observatories: XPoSat represents India’s third space-based observatory, succeeding the solar mission Aditya-L1 and AstroSat.
• Impact on Indian Astronomy: The launch marks a significant advancement in Indian space research and astronomy.

 X-RAYS

• X-rays Defined: Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths ranging from 0.01 to 10 nanometres, characterized by perpendicular electric and magnetic fields.
• Polarization of X-rays:
  • X-rays become polarized upon scattering or when the trajectory of a fast-moving charged particle is altered by a magnetic field.
  • The polarization, indicating the orientation of the electric and magnetic fields, provides insights into the properties of celestial objects.
• Astronomical Implications:
  • Instruments like POLIX measure X-ray polarization, revealing the orientation and intensity of magnetic fields around celestial bodies.
  • This information is critical for understanding the nature and behavior of cosmic phenomena such as pulsars and regions surrounding black holes that emit X-rays.

Chandrayaan-3: India’s Milestone Lunar Mission

Chandrayaan-3

• Mission Essence: India’s third lunar exploration, Chandrayaan-3, aimed for a soft landing on the Moon, specifically near the lunar south pole.
• Launch Date: Launched on July 14, 2023, from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, and achieved lunar orbit on August 5, 2023.
• Historic Achievement: Successfully landed near the Lunar south pole on August 23, 2023, marking India as the first country to land a spacecraft in this region.

Mission Objectives

• Primary Goals: Safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, rover deployment for moon roving, and conducting in-situ scientific experiments.

Mission Components

• Propulsion Module: Facilitates lunar orbit entry, equipped with SHAPE payload for Earth observations from the lunar orbit.
• Lander Module (Vikram): Hosts scientific instruments for lunar surface and atmospheric studies, including thermal experiments, seismic activity measurements, and plasma density studies.
• Rover Module (Pragyan): Equipped with instruments like APXS and LIBS for analyzing the elemental composition near the landing site.

Major Findings

• Lunar Temperature: Surprisingly high temperatures up to 70°C measured, contrary to the expected 20-30°C.
• Elemental Composition: Presence of Sulphur and other elements like Aluminum, Calcium, Iron, and Silicon confirmed near the south pole.

Significance of Chandrayaan-3 for Indian Space Programme

Technological Leadership

• Global Standing: Elevates India into the elite group with lunar soft landing capabilities, alongside Russia, the US, and China.
• Space Technology: Showcases India’s prowess in indigenous cryogenic engines and orbital management, positioning India as a key player in the New Space economy.

Strategic Implications

• Soft Landing Capability: Strategic value in refueling, docking technologies, and smart space robotics, paving the way for interplanetary missions and sample retrieval.
• Lunar Exploration: Extensive studies on lunar properties, including water ice confirmation, lunar history, and subsurface water ice detection.
• Defense and Aerospace: Insights from soft landing capabilities benefit missile defense and reusable launch vehicle technologies, reducing future launch costs.

Economic and Strategic Benefits

• Technological Translations: Chandrayaan-3 technologies offer strategic tools and commercial products for disaster management and infrastructure monitoring.
• Space Tourism: Potential for private space parks and in-orbit manufacturing hubs, driven by space robotics.
• NewSpace Movement: Boosted by over 500 space-tech startups, MSMEs, and industries in India, enhancing the country’s space economy and technological capabilities.

Anaglyph images of Chandrayan were shown– Its a stereoscopic photograph with the two images superimposed and printed in different colours, usually red and green, producing a stereo effect when viewed with appropriate filters over each eye.