ISRO Kicks Off 2024 With XPoSat Satellite Launch to Study Black Holes, More
ISRO on Monday successfully launched its maiden X-Ray Polarimeter Satellite that would offer several insights into celestial objects like black holes.
ISRO’s ever reliable Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in its C58 mission, placed the primary X-Ray Polarimeter satellite XPoSat into a 650 km Low Earth Orbit as intended after lifting off at the pre-fixed time of 9.10 am from the first launch pad in Sriharikota.
As the 25-hour countdown concluded, the 44.4-metre-tall rocket lifted off majestically with thunderous applause from spectators who had descended here in large numbers at this spaceport situated about 135 km east of Chennai.
PSLV-C58/XPoSat Mission:
Lift-off normal ??️XPoSat satellite is launched successfully.
?PSLV-C58 vehicle placed the satellite precisely into the intended orbit of 650 km with 6-degree inclination?.
The POEM-3 is being scripted …#XPoSat
— ISRO (@isro) January 1, 2024
The X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) is aimed to investigate the polarisation of intense X-ray sources in space.
According to ISRO, it is the first dedicated scientific satellite from the space agency to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.
The X-Ray polarisation serves as a crucial diagnostic tool for examining the radiation mechanism and geometry of celestial sources.
The primary payload of XPoSat is POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-Rays) which is designed to measure polarimetry parameters by Raman Research Institute and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing) built by the U R Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru. The Mission life is about five years.
ISRO will also launch the state-of-the-art joint venture satellite with NASA — NISAR — in the first quarter of 2024. Built at a cost of $1.5 billion (nearly Rs. 12,500 crore), NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) is targeted for launch onboard India’s GSLV rocket.
Data from NISAR will be highly suitable for studying the land ecosystems, deformation of solid earth, mountain and polar cryosphere, sea ice, and coastal oceans on a regional to global scale.
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Expectations were high at the start of this month when a group of University of Cambridge astronomers reported they had found the “strongest evidence yet” of life on an exoplanet called K2-18b. Their assertions sprang from the detection of dimethyl sulphide (DMS), a gas linked to biological activity in the atmosphere of Earth. Conducted using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the finding suggested that the planet may be a watery, habitable world. But a detailed examination of the facts now begs grave doubt about the veracity of their bold assertions.
Skepticism Grows Over K2-18b Life Claims Amid New Analysis and Calls for More Data
As per a study posted on April 22, Jake Taylor of the University of Oxford applied a neutral statistical test that detected no clear molecular signatures in the JWST data, just a flat line. The studies suggest the signal is either noisy or too weak to provide strong conclusions. The first Cambridge-led study revealed a three-sigma DMS detection much below the five-sigma threshold usually required to prove major scientific discoveries. Critics also questioned the absence of supporting compounds like ethane and claimed the models employed may have exaggerated DMS levels.
Astrobiologists Eddie Schwieterman and Michaela Musilova note that current evidence doesn’t meet strict criteria for proving life; thus, there is a need for multiple independent teams to analyse the same dataset.
Further complicating matters, new research indicates K2-18b may orbit too close to its star to retain liquid water, possibly excluding it from the habitable zone. Adding to the scepticism, DMS was recently detected on a cold comet, suggesting that such molecules can exist without life. Lead author of the original research, Madhusudhan, has supported the findings but discounted Taylor’s test as too simple and “irrelevant” for their assertions.
Most scientists agree that confirmation or denial of DMS existence in K2-18b’s atmosphere depends on additional solid, peer-reviewed research. The argument is still in progress, an ongoing narrative illustrating how science develops not by certainty but by questioning and correction.
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SpaceX had sent another batch of Starlink satellites on their way on Thursday to assist in keeping up the quick expansion of its global broadband network. Rising from Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, a Falcon 9 rocket took to the skies at 9:51 p.m. EDT on May 1 (0151 GMT on May 2). This mission goes by the name Starlink 6-75, and it dispatched 28 satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO). This mission is an addition to the already growing constellation, which aims to provide high-speed internet across the world, except the polar regions, via user-pointed terminals.
SpaceX Adds 28 Starlink Satellites to Global Network
As per a Space.com report, the rocket’s nine Merlin engines shut down about two and a half minutes after liftoff, followed by stage separation. The first stage, booster B1080, performed a retrograde burn and safely landed eight minutes later on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. The landing was the 18th successful flight for B1080 and its 12th for Starlink missions. The second stage continued toward its payload orbit to deploy its satellite payload.
The upper stage achieved its targeted orbit and released the 28 satellites one hour after liftoff. These satellites will drift into their “operational” slots over the next few days. Once in orbit, they will mesh with the existing Starlink megaconstellation of over 7,200 satellites, creating a near-global mesh that will allow constant connectivity for customers who can point their terminals at the satellite array.
It’s SpaceX’s 51st Starlink mission of the year and the company’s 34th Falcon 9 launch of 2025. And the two Starship test flights in 2025 by SpaceX only further affirm its edge on launch pace and commercial space infrastructure development. The steady pace is evidence of the company’s ambitions to dominate low Earth orbit communications.
SpaceX is inching ever closer to achieving its mission of providing high-speed internet to every corner of the planet, thanks to yet another successful launch that brought it closer to that goal and brought new commercial spaceflight and rocket reuse milestones within reach.
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