Science News

Girish Linganna decodes ISRO's significant milestone in making its CE20 cryogenic engine safe for human spaceflight, particularly for the Gaganyaan missions. 

Riding on a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX, the mission aims to make history as the first American moon landing in over 50 years and the first by a private company. Equipped with scientific instruments from NASA, Odysseus plans to land in Malapert A crater near the moon's south pole. Girish Linganna reports

This is a crucial mission for the rocket nicknamed “naughty boy” for its spotty record. It is the rocket’s 16th mission overall and its 10th flight using the indigenously developed cryogenic engine.  

Sia Godika, a 17-year-old from Bengaluru, won the 'Breakthrough Junior Challenge' with her video on "Yamanaka Factors," explaining Shinya Yamanaka's cellular reprogramming. Her victory earns her Rs 3.31 crore, including a scholarship, teacher award, and science lab. The competition promotes creative scientific communication among youth worldwide.

ISRO Chairman visited the Asianet Suvarna News office in Bengaluru and had a casual interaction with the media personalities in the office. He says the space agency is looking to create an industry in India that can build all the technologies needed for space exploration. He says AI is already being used in space, for example in image analysis. He also says that ISRO is encouraging private companies to work in the space sector.

Ukraine is all set to start its journey towards Energy independence as the government has announced the building of four nuclear reactors. The work of all the nuclear reactors is said to begin this year itself.

The Global Science Festival Kerala (GSFK), slated for January 2024, is a groundbreaking initiative in Kerala's secondary scientific education system. The one-month-long event will begin on January 15 at Thonakkal, Thiruvananthapuram.  

The GSAT-20 is being developed through the expertise of the ISRO and will be launched aboard a Falcon-9 rocket. This is the first time ISRO will use the Falcon-9 heavy lift launcher which may liftoff from Florida.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has announced that the XPoSat mission will lift off at 9:10 am using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). This mission is not only India's first dedicated polarimetry mission but also the world's second, following Nasa's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) launched in 2021.

The winter solstice signifies the year's shortest duration of sunlight. In New Delhi, for instance, Time and Date notes that daylight will span just 10 hours, 19 minutes, and 17 seconds, with the sun rising at 7:09 am and setting at 5:29 pm.