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The Indian Space Research Organisation said it successfully carried out an “extremely challenging” controlled re-entry experiment of the decommissioned orbiting Megha-Tropiques-1 (MT-1) satellite. “The satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and would have disintegrated over the Pacific Ocean”, the Bengaluru-headquartered national space agency said on Twitter on Tuesday.

The final impact region estimated is in the deep Pacific Ocean within the expected latitude and longitude boundaries, an ISRO statement said.

The low Earth satellite was launched on October 12, 2011, as a joint satellite venture of ISRO and the French space agency, CNES for tropical weather and climate studies.

Since August 2022, the satellite’s perigee was progressively lowered through a series of 20 manoeuvres, spending about 120kg of fuel.

Multiple manoeuvres including the final de-boost strategy were designed after taking into consideration several constraints, including visibility of the re-entry trace over ground stations, ground impact within the targeted zone, and allowable operating conditions of subsystems, especially the maximum deliverable thrust and the maximum firing duration constraint on thrusters.

All manoeuvre plans were screened to ensure that there would be no post manoeuvre close approaches with other space objects, especially with the crewed space stations like International Space Stations and the Chinese Space Station, ISRO said.

The final two de-boost burns were executed at 11:02 UTC and 12:51 UTC respectively on March 7 by firing four 11 Newton thrusters on-board the satellite for about 20 minutes each, it said.

The final perigee was estimated to be less than 80 km, indicating that the satellite would enter the denser layers of the Earth’s atmosphere and subsequently undergo structural disintegration. The re-entry aero-thermal flux analysis confirmed that there would be no surviving large debris fragments.

The entire sequence of events was carried out from the Mission Operations Complex in ISTRAC (ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network), Bengaluru.

An uninhabited area in the Pacific Ocean between 5°S to 14°S latitude and 119°W to 100°W longitude was identified as the targeted re-entry zone for MT1, weighing about 1000 kg, ISRO said earlier this week.

About 125 kg on-board fuel remained unutilised at its end-of-mission that could pose risks for accidental break-up, an ISRO statement had noted.

This left-over fuel was estimated to be sufficient to achieve a fully controlled atmospheric re-entry to impact the uninhabited location in the Pacific Ocean, ISRO had said.

Controlled re-entries involve de-orbiting to very low altitudes to ensure impact occurs within a targeted safe zone.

Usually, large satellites/ rocket bodies, which are likely to survive aero-thermal fragmentation upon re-entry, are made to undergo controlled re-entry to limit ground casualty risk.

However, all such satellites are specifically designed to undergo controlled re-entry at end-of-life (EOL).

“MT-1 was not designed for EOL operations through controlled re-entry which made the entire exercise extremely challenging,” ISRO said.

Furthermore, the on-board constraints of the aged satellite, where several systems had lost redundancy and showed degraded performance, and maintaining sub-systems under harsher environmental conditions at much lower than originally designed orbital altitude added to the operational complexities, it said.

Innovative workarounds were implemented by the operations team based on the study, deliberations, and exchanges among the mission, operations, flight dynamics, aerodynamics, propulsion, controls, navigation, thermal, and other sub-system design teams across the ISRO centres, who worked in synergy to surmount these challenges, it said.

Although the mission life of the satellite originally was three years, it continued to provide valuable data services for more than a decade supporting regional and global climate models till 2021, ISRO said.

UN/IADC (Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee) space debris mitigation guidelines recommend de-orbiting a LEO (Low Earth Orbit) object at its EOL, preferably through controlled re-entry to a safe impact zone, or by bringing it to an orbit where the orbital lifetime is less than 25 years, according to ISRO.

It is also recommended to carry out “passivation’ of on-board energy sources to minimise the risk of any post-mission accidental break-up, ISRO said.

The orbital lifetime of MT-1 would have been more than 100 years in its 20 deg inclined operational orbit of 867 km altitude, it said.

“As a responsible space agency committed to safe and sustainable operations in outer space, ISRO proactively takes efforts for better compliance with the UN/IADC space debris mitigation guidelines on post-mission disposal of LEO objects”, the ISRO statement said.


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T Corona Borealis May Erupt Soon: Rare Nova Could Be Visible to Naked Eye

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T Corona Borealis May Erupt Soon: Rare Nova Could Be Visible to Naked Eye

T Corona Borealis is a binary star system in the Northern Crown constellation which is being monitored closely by astronomers worldwide for signs of a rare stellar eruption. The system consists of a white dwarf and a red giant orbiting each other with the white dwarf pulling material from its companion. The gradual accumulation of matter on the surface of dwarf white planet can lead to a thermonuclear explosion, known as a Nova. Scientists recorded the last erupted Nova in 1946. Now, there have been some indications that we might experience another nova outburst in the near future.

The researchers have recorded a brightening event in 2015 followed by a dimming in 2023, which has mirrored the pattern seen in the last eruption. This leads the experts to believe that there might be another nova outburt. If an eruption occurs T Corona Borealis could become visible to the naked eye and shine as brightly as the most prominent stars.

Accretion Activity and Expert Predictions

According to a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the system has exhibited behaviour similar to the years leading up to its previous eruption. T Corona Borealis is one of only eleven recurrent novae observed in recorded history with eruptions noted in 1217, 1787, 1866 and 1946. As per the latest data available with the researchers, the accretion disc surrounding the white dwarf has became highly active and bright between 2015 and 2023. The study reveals that this heightened activity could trigger an eruption within a year or two.

There are multiple predictions from the scientists based on orbital analysis suggesting possible eruption dates. As per multiple reports, the Nova outburst might take place between March 27 or November 10 this year or June 25, 2026. The researchers has also suggested a theory regarding a potential third object influencing the binary system. Astronomers like Dr Léa Planquart of Université de Strasbourg and Dr Jeremy Shears of the British Astronomical Association have dismissed this theory citing the absence of supporting evidence. Both experts believe the activity of the accretion disc remains the most likely cause of an impending eruption.

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Scientists Spot a Key Difference in Matter and Antimatter Decay

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Scientists Spot a Key Difference in Matter and Antimatter Decay

A key difference has been observed in the behaviour of matter and antimatter particles by researchers working at a particle physics laboratory. A new measurement has been carried out that recorded the decay of a specific type of matter particle and its antimatter equivalent. This development is being seen as significant because it may explain why the universe is filled with matter while antimatter is nearly absent. The discovery has been described as a step towards solving one of physics’ biggest mysteries.

New Study Reveals Baryon Decay Difference

According to the research shared by the LHCb experiment at CERN and posted on the arXiv preprint server, a difference has been recorded in how a particle called the beauty-lambda baryon and its antimatter counterpart decay. These particles belong to the proton family and are classified as baryons. The report further added that the decay was observed into a proton and three mesons based on data collected between 2009 and 2018.

The evidence suggests that the decay of the beauty-lambda baryon differs from its antimatter twin. According to sources involved in the study the likelihood of this difference being a random occurrence is less than one in three million. Tim Gershon who is a particle physicist at the University of Warwick and part of the research team told Nature that this is the first time such a difference has been spotted in baryons.

Experts Say Findings Could Aid Understanding of Matter’s Prevalence

Tara Shears who is a particle physicist at the University of Liverpool stated to Nature that the observation could offer new insight into why matter is found in abundance while antimatter is not. She said that this imbalance is one of the major unresolved questions in physics.

Yuval Grossman a theoretical physicist from Cornell University mentioned to Nature that while the current measurement does not fully explain the imbalance it helps add a crucial piece to the puzzle.

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China Loses 26 Percent of Its Glaciers Due to Global Warming, Claims New Study

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China Loses 26 Percent of Its Glaciers Due to Global Warming, Claims New Study

China has reportedly witnessed a significant decline in glacier area over the last six decades. As per a new study published online,  the country has lost nearly 26 percent of its total glacier coverage since the 1960s. The study claims that the lost of such glacier area might be due to the rapid increase in global temperatures around the globe. Official data confirmed that close to 7000 small glaciers have entirely vanished from the landscape. The shrinking of glacier masses has been observed to accelerate over the past few years as warming trends continue to intensify.

Glacier Loss Confirmed by Chinese Academy of Sciences

According to a study released by the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources under the Chinese Academy of Sciences it was recorded that China’s glacier area had reduced to nearly 46000 square kilometres by 2020. The total number of glaciers was stated to be around 69000 at that time. This marked a steep fall from an earlier figure of approximately 59000 square kilometres reported between 1960 and 1980 when glacier count stood at roughly 46000.

Impact of Glacier Retreat on Water Security and Environment

The melting of glaciers has raised concerns over freshwater availability across several regions. Environmental agencies have cautioned that the loss of glacier mass may result in higher competition for water resources in the years to come. The Tibetan Plateau which hosts a large portion of these glaciers has been referred to as the Third Pole owing to the vast ice reserves it holds.

Efforts to Slow Glacier Melting

Attempts have been made by Chinese authorities to slow the melting process through technological interventions. Artificial snow systems and snow blankets have been deployed as part of these initiatives.

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