Tag: NASA

Science

How Nasa managed to reestablish contact with most distant spacecraft from Earth – Times of India

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: After five months of silence, Nasa's Voyager 1 spacecraft is back in touch with Earth, having overcome a perplexing communication glitch through an innovative fix. The probe, which is currently 15 billion miles away from Earth, experienced issues with its flight data system's telemetry modulation unit in November 2023, resulting in indecipherable data transmissions.The communication problem was marked by a repeating pattern of indecipherable code being sent back to Earth, rendering the data from the spacecraft's science instruments and engineering systems unusable.However, on April 20, Nasa engineers successfully received coherent data indicating that Voyager 1 is in good health and functioning correctly.Linda Spilker, the Voyager project scientist at the Jet Propulsion...
Science

Indian students bag Nasa awards for human exploration rover challenge | India News – Times of India

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Nasa on Monday awarded two Indian students' teams from Delhi-NCR and Mumbai for human exploration rover challenge. The KIET Group of Institutions from Delhi-NCR won the award in "Crash and Burn" while Kanakia International School from Mumbai received the "Rookie of the Year" award.The HERC marked its 30th anniversary as a Nasa competition, with over 600 students and 72 teams from around the world participating.Parish Episcopal School of Dallas in the United States won first place in the high school division, while the University of Alabama in Huntsville won the college/university crown.Highlighting the importance of the event, HERC activity lead for the Nasa's Office of Stem engagement Vemitra Alexander said, "This student design challenge encourages the next generation...
Science

Nasa’s Voyager 1 phones home after months – Times of India

[ad_1] WASHINGTON: Nasa's Voyager 1 probe -- the most distant man-made object in the universe -- is returning usable information to ground control following months of spouting gibberish, the US space agency announced Monday.The spaceship stopped sending readable data back to Earth on November 14, 2023, even though controllers could tell it was still receiving their commands.In March, teams working at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered that a single malfunctioning chip was to blame, and devised a clever coding fix that worked within the tight memory constraints of its 46-year-old computer system."Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems," the agency said."The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returni...
Science

From Apollo to Artemis: Why it’s so difficult to send humans to Moon – Times of India

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Despite technological advancements since the Apollo missions, which landed a dozen astronauts on the moon between 1969 and 1972, the current efforts under Nasa's Artemis program to return humans to the lunar surface are facing significant challenges. This situation raises the question: Why is getting back to the moon so difficult today?Financial and political challengesThe Artemis program, unlike its Apollo predecessor, operates under far tighter budget constraints."At its peak, Nasa was consuming around 5% of the entire federal budget," a significant portion of which was dedicated to the Apollo program. If adjusted for inflation, Apollo would have cost over $260 billion in today's dollars. In contrast, Nasa's current budget is less than half a percent of the federal bu...
Science

Lyrid meteor shower: When and where to watch – Times of India

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: The cosmic wonder of meteor shower can be observed by the earthlings as the Lyrid Meteor shower is set to peak overnight Sunday into Monday.Best observed from the Northern Hemisphere, the Lyrids are caused by the dusty debris from a comet named Thatcher and spring from the constellation Lyra.Although, viewers may have a difficult time witnessing this cosmic activity as the moon will be nearly full and shining bright in the night sky.Even in ideal conditions away from city lights, only a few meteors per hour are expected to be visible to the naked eye."For a dedicated observer, it may still be worth spotting members of one of the oldest known meteor showers – the Lyrids have been observed for 2,700 years," NASA wrote in a post. When and where to see the Lyrid meteor show...
Science

Nasa satellite’s ‘shocking’ space junk near-miss was even closer than thought – Times of India

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Nasa's TIMED spacecraft and the defunct Russian spy satellite Cosmos 2221 experienced an alarmingly close encounter in orbit, space.com reported. Initial estimates suggested that the two satellites passed within 65 feet (20 meters) of each other. However, further analysis revealed that the actual distance was even closer, with the satellites coming within a mere 33 feet (10 meters) of one another, according to Nasa deputy administrator Pam Melroy.Melroy expressed her personal shock and the concern shared by Nasa officials, stating, "Had the two satellites collided, we would have seen significant debris generation — tiny shards traveling tens of thousands of miles an hour, waiting to puncture a hole in another spacecraft, potentially putting human lives at risk."The issu...
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How Nasa plans to use AI to combat climate change – Times of India

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Nasa is actively employing artificial intelligence (AI) and open science initiatives to tackle the challenges posed by climate change, demonstrating a commitment to both technological advancement and environmental stewardship.In a recent showcase of these efforts, Nasa emphasized how AI technologies are being utilized to enhance our understanding of Earth's climate systems and improve the effectiveness of interventions.These AI-driven projects facilitate more accurate predictions of weather patterns, assessments of climate impact, and development of strategies to mitigate adverse effects.Nasa's approach integrates open science principles, promoting transparency and accessibility in climate research. By sharing data and findings openly, Nasa aims to foster a collaborativ...
Science

Nasa’s new frontier: Hubble telescope to probe secrets of small asteroids – Times of India

[ad_1] Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope, in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), has initiated a novel mission targeting small asteroids within the main belt. This effort seeks to deepen our understanding of these celestial objects, which are considered crucial to unraveling the mysteries of the early solar system. Managed by Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center and supported by Lockheed Martin Space for mission operations, the telescope continues its over three-decade-long legacy of space exploration and discovery.The new focus on small main belt asteroids aims to provide insights into their composition and dynamics, aspects that remain underexplored compared to their larger counterparts. Researchers from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, are leadin...