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As the country rejoiced the successful placement of the ISRO lander — Vikram — on the moon’s uncharted South Pole, the agency’s chairman S Somanath on Thursday confirmed that its maiden solar mission ‘Aditya’ is in the works and will be ready for launch in September.

In a brief address to the nation after the lander touched down on the moon’s dark side on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alluded to future missions to the Sun and Venus.

Speaking to ANI a day after the ISRO put India in an elite club of nations with the successful conduct of its maiden lunar landing mission, the ISRO chief said, “Mission ‘Aditya’ is in the works and will be ready for launch in the first week of September. We are also planning a mission by the end of September or October to demonstrate our crew module and crew escape capability, which will be followed by many test missions until we launch our first manned mission to space (Gaganyaan), possibly by 2025.”

On the flawless touchdown of the ‘Vikram’ lander on the moon’s south face, Somanath said the gamut of emotions he ran as the lander closed in on the lunar surface was hard to put in words.

“It was a mix of joy, a feeling of accomplishment and gratefulness for all fellow scientists, who contributed to the success of this mission,” Somanath told ANI.

He added that the moon’s South Pole has the potential for human settlement, which is why the agency made it the preferred landing site for the lander.

“We have gone closer to the (lunar) South Pole, which lies almost 70 degrees from where the lander has been placed. The South Pole has a specific advantage with respect to being less illuminated by the Sun. There is potential (for human settlement) because of more scientific content (on the south side of the moon). The scientists, who were working on this project, showed a lot of interest in the South Pole as the larger objective is for human beings to set up colonies on the moon and travel beyond. We were looking for the best landing spot, where we could set up colonies in the distant future, and the lunar South Pole fitted the bill,” the ISRO chief said.

Speaking on the ‘Pragyan’ rover, which rolled out of the lander after the successful touchdown on the lunar southside, Somanath said a team will soon start work on a robotic path planning exercise, which will be the key to future explorations into deep space.

“Pragyan Rover has two instruments, both of which are related to the elemental composition findings on the moon as well as its chemical compositions. It will also rove the lunar surface. We will also do a robotic path planning exercise, which is important for future explorations into deep space,” the ISRO chief said.

The ‘Pragyaan’ rover, on Thursday morning, rolled out of the landing module to begin its exploration of the uncharted lunar south face, ISRO informed on its official handle on X, formerly Twitter.

The agency, earlier on Thursday, said the lander made a historic touchdown on the lunar south pole, taking India where no other country has gone before.

“The Ch-3 Rover ramped down from the Lander and India took a walk on the moon. More updates soon,” the ISRO posted on X.

The first picture of the six-wheeled robotic vehicle Pragyan rolling out of Vikram was shared by Pawan K Goenka, the chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, a single-window, independent, nodal agency that functions as an autonomous agency in the Department of Space (DOS).

After a 40-day journey into space, the ‘Vikram’ lander touched down on the lunar South Pole on Wednesday evening.

India also became only the fourth nation after the US, Russia and China to successfully conduct a lunar landing mission.

The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft put down the Vikram lander on the lunar surface, tilting to a horizontal position ahead of landing.

The spacecraft was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh’s Sriharikota on July 14.


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NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Sends First Space Images Before Full Sky Survey

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NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Sends First Space Images Before Full Sky Survey

NASA’s SPHEREx mission has sent back its first images from space. This marks an important step before it begins the full survey of the sky. The space telescope, which was launched on March 11, 2025, is designed to scan millions of galaxies and collect data in infrared light. On March 27, its detectors captured uncalibrated images that show thousands of light sources, including distant stars and galaxies. The images, processed with added colours for infrared wavelengths, confirm that SPHEREx is operating as expected. Once fully operational, the telescope will take 600 exposures daily and map the entire sky four times during its two-year mission.

Recorded Images Reveals Interesting Details

According to NASA’s SPHEREx mission, the observatory’s six detectors recorded images of the same area of the sky, providing a wide field of view. The top three images represent one portion of the sky, while the bottom three cover the same section. As per the report, the SPHEREx catpured each image with around 100,000 light sources. As per multiple reports, scientists can now learn more about what celestial objects and its distance from Earth with the help of infrared wavelengths. The data from SPHEREx will also help researchers to explore the origins of water in the Milky Way. Moreover, it might also help the scientists to find more clues about the universe’s earliest moments.

Olivier Doré, SPHEREx project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech, told NASA that the telescope is functioning as intended. The infrared light detected by SPHEREx is invisible to human eyes, but colour mapping enables researchers to visualise and analyse it. The observatory’s unique design includes 17 infrared wavelength bands for each detector, creating a total of 102 hues in every six-image capture.

How the Telescope Works

Unlike Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope, which focuses on specific areas of space, SPHEREx is built for large-scale surveys. It uses spectroscopy to break down light and identify chemical compositions and distances of celestial bodies. Light entering the telescope is divided into two paths, each leading to three detectors. Specialised filters process the incoming wavelengths, allowing for detailed observations of millions of cosmic sources.

Beth Fabinsky, deputy project manager at JPL, said in NASA’s official statement that the successful image capture represents a major milestone. The telescope has also reached its target operating temperature of minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit, crucial for detecting faint infrared signals. Since focusing cannot be adjusted after launch, mission engineers verified the accuracy of the telescope’s optics before sending it into space.

Jamie Bock, principal investigator at JPL and Caltech, confirmed in NASA’s report that the telescope is performing as expected. Engineers will continue testing before the observatory begins routine operations in late April.

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Iceland’s Grindavík town evacuated as volcanic fissure erupts with lava!

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Iceland’s Grindavík town evacuated as volcanic fissure erupts with lava!

A volcanic fissure has emerged near Grindavík on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula after a series of strong earthquakes. Lava has breached the town’s defence barriers. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) has warned that the fissure may continue to expand. The eruption began along the Sundhnúkur crater row early in the morning. By 9:45 a.m. local time, a fissure stretching nearly 1,200 metres had opened north of Grindavík. The crack is moving southward. Officials have raised the hazard level to the highest risk category.

Evacuations and Road Closures

According to the IMO, a second fissure has appeared inside Grindavík’s protective barriers. Authorities have evacuated the town along with the Blue Lagoon spa. Roads in and out of the area have been shut. Some residents have refused to leave. Local media outlet Visir has reported that emergency services remain on high alert.

Impact of Volcanic Gas

Weather forecasts indicate that volcanic gas will be carried northeastward towards Reykjavík. The capital is located about 40 kilometres away. The IMO has stated that by tomorrow morning, changing wind patterns may direct the gas southwest and eastward. Residents have been told to remain indoors as much as possible while closely monitoring air quality updates. Reykjanes Peninsula has experienced about 11 eruptions since 2021. Eight have occurred along the Sundhnúkur crater row since last year. Scientists continue to monitor the situation closely. Authorities have urged people to avoid the affected region.

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JWST Captures Unseen Details of Exoplanets in HR 8799 and 51 Eridani Systems

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JWST Captures Unseen Details of Exoplanets in HR 8799 and 51 Eridani Systems

Astronomers have released new images of planets within the HR 8799 and 51 Eridani star systems. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was used in a way that was different from standard procedures to achieve these results. Capturing direct images of exoplanets is challenging due to the brightness of host stars, which often obscures planetary details. To allow more light through, researchers adjusted JWST’s coronagraphs. This helps in enhancing the visibility of these distant worlds. This adjustment provided clearer insights into planetary atmospheres and their compositions.

Unconventional Use of JWST’s Coronagraphs

According to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, lead author William Balmer, a Ph.D. candidate at Johns Hopkins University, explained to Space.com that a thinner part of the coronagraph mask was used. This allowed more starlight to diffract, reducing the risk of completely obscuring planets. Coronagraphs typically block starlight to reveal faint celestial bodies, but this modification provided a balance between removing excessive glare and preserving planetary details.

Key Discoveries and Observations

The JWST’s mid-infrared imaging captured HR 8799 at 4.6 microns. It is a wavelength that is mainly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. Balmer stated that previous ground-based attempts had failed, demonstrating JWST’s stability in detecting exoplanets. Observations at 4.3 microns were also conducted. This revealed the presence of carbon dioxide. It is a very important step in determining the planetary formation processes. The detected carbon dioxide levels suggested that these planets likely formed through core accretion, gathering heavy elements over time.

Future Research and Expanding Studies

There are many research planned to study the four additional planetary systems. Balmer’s team has been allocated more JWST observation time to confirm whether similar gas giants formed through core accretion. This could offer more insights into the stability of planetary systems and potential habitability of smaller, unseen planets.

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