spacecraft – Bhartiyanews24x7

15Oct

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Nasa launches Europa Clipper to explore potential life on Jupiter’s moon – Times of India

Nasa launches Europa Clipper from Kennedy Space Center, Florida (Picture credit: Reuters) Nasa on Monday launched spacecraft Europa Clipper from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, US, to explore the possibility of life on Jupiter's moon Europa. The spacecraft took off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket under clear skies.The $5.2 billion mission aims to explore whether Europa’s subsurface ocean, which lies beneath an ice shell over 10 miles thick, could be habitable.It is Nasa's first mission dedicated to addressing this question.Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator for Nasa’s science mission directorate, said, "Scientists believe Europa has conditions—water, energy, chemistry, and stability—beneath its icy surface that could support life.""One of the Europa Clipper mission's main cha...

2Oct

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Science

Nasa switches off instrument on Voyager 2 spacecraft to save power – Times of India

This photo provided by NASA shows the "Sounds of Earth" record being mounted on the Voyager 2 spacecraft in the Safe-1 Building at the Kennedy Space Center (Pic credit: AP) To save power, Nasa has switched off another scientific instrument on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft. The space agency said Tuesday that Voyager 2's plasma science instrument - designed to measure the flow of charged atoms - was powered down in late September so the spacecraft can keep exploring for as long as possible, expected into the 2030s. Nasa turned off a suite of instruments on Voyager 2 and its twin Voyager 1 after they explored the gas giant planets in the 1980s. Both are currently in interstellar space, or the space between stars. The plasma instrument on Voyager 1 stopped working long ago and was fi...

6Sep

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Science

After 93 days Nasa’s troubled Starliner setting stage for unpiloted return to Earth – Times of India

Ninety-three days after launching aboard, Boeing's Starliner capsule is prepared to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday evening leaving Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, the two astronauts who have been on the ISS since June, to remain on the station as the capsule departs.The hatch of the Starliner was closed, and the capsule was prepared for re-entry on Thursday at 1.29 pm ET (September 5, 10.59 pm IST), marking the final stage of a challenging test flight that has been less than satisfactory.What's the Boeing' undocking procedureThe Starliner spacecraft is set to undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday, September 6, at approximately 6.04 pm EDT (September 7, 3.30 am IST), leaving astronauts Wilmore and Williams behind. Approximately six hours...

28Aug

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Science

Cluster’s final mission: European satellite Salsa to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere after 24 years – Times of India

ESA’s European Space Agency's (ESA) Cluster mission's satellite Salsa, which was launched in 2000, is ending its mission after 24 years of studying Earth's magnetic field and is all set for a dramatic return to Earth on September 8, 2024.The mission was initially expected to last two years but continued for 24 years. Salsa is one member of a four-piece group called Cluster with three other identical satellites, Rumba, Tango, and Samba.As part of a carefully planned operation to prevent space debris, ESA is taking a proactive approach to retiring the cluster satellites.Salsa will re-enter the atmosphere over the South Pacific, burning up as it descends from its high orbit of 81,250 miles (130,000 km), reflecting ESA’s commitment to responsible space asset management."By studying how Salsa b...