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India’s space programme achieved a significant milestone on December 18, 2024, as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) began assembling the Human-Rated Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (HLVM3) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC). This marks the commencement of the Gaganyaan-G1 launch campaign, the first uncrewed mission under the ambitious Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme. The assembly began with the stacking of the nozzle-end segment of the S200 solid rocket motor. This development coincides with the tenth anniversary of the LVM3-X/CARE mission conducted on the same date in 2014.

HLVM3: A Step Towards Human Spaceflight

The HLVM3, an advanced version of the LVM3 rocket, has been specifically engineered for human spaceflight. Standing at 53 metres tall and weighing 640 tonnes, the three-stage rocket can carry up to 10 tonnes to low Earth orbit. Key upgrades include a human-rated design and a Crew Escape System (CES), intended to ensure the safe ejection of the Crew Module in the event of an anomaly during ascent.

According to reports, preparations are underway with the assembly of the S200 motors, while the L110 liquid stage and C32 cryogenic stage are ready at the launch complex. The Crew Module integration is being conducted at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), and the Service Module is being prepared at the U.R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC).

Significance of the Mission

The upcoming uncrewed flight aims to validate human-rated systems in a controlled environment. The Crew Module, designed with enhanced safety margins and redundancy, features technologies tested during the LVM3-X/CARE mission. That mission, conducted in 2014, demonstrated critical technologies such as controlled re-entry and splashdown, providing invaluable data for subsequent human spaceflight developments.

As ISRO progresses with its maiden human spaceflight mission, the Gaganyaan programme is expected to pave the way for India’s long-term vision, including the establishment of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), which will mark a new chapter in the country’s space exploration efforts.

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NASA-ISRO Launch Joint Space Biology Experiments on Axiom Mission 4

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June 8, 2025

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NASA-ISRO Launch Joint Space Biology Experiments on Axiom Mission 4

NASA and India’s space agency ISRO are collaborating on a suite of science investigations aboard Axiom Mission 4, a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station set to launch no earlier than June 10 aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The mission will carry experiments probing human biology, plant growth, and technology use in microgravity. Investigations include Myogenesis-ISRO (studying muscle stem cells and mitochondrial function), Sprouts-ISRO (growing greengram and fenugreek seeds), Space Microalgae-ISRO (examining nutrient-packed green microalgae growth), Voyager Tardigrade-ISRO (testing tiny water bears in space), and Voyager Displays-ISRO (analyzing astronauts’ use of electronic screens). These studies aim to maintain astronaut muscle and health, support food production in orbit, and improve life-support systems for long-duration missions.

Space Biology: Muscles, Seeds and Algae

According to NASA’s official site, the Sprouts-ISRO investigation will germinate and grow greengram and fenugreek seeds aboard the ISS to study their development, genetics, and nutritional value in microgravity. Myogenesis-ISRO uses human muscle stem cell cultures to examine how spaceflight impairs muscle repair and mitochondrial metabolism, and tests chemicals to bolster muscle health during long missions. Space Microalgae-ISRO studies how green microalgae grow and adapt in microgravity, since rapidly growing, nutrient-packed algae could serve as a fresh food source and help recycle air and water on spacecraft.

Together, these space biology experiments could advance new ways to grow fresh food in orbit, maintain muscle mass during long missions, and even support treatments for muscle loss and nutrition on Earth.

Extremes and Human Factors in Orbit

The Voyager Displays-ISRO experiment examines how crew members interact with tablets and other electronic displays in microgravity, measuring pointing tasks, gaze behaviour, and stress or well-being indicators. Voyager Tardigrade-ISRO carries microscopic water bears (tardigrades) into space, reviving them in orbit and comparing their survival, reproduction, and gene expression to ground controls under cosmic radiation and extreme conditions.

By revealing what makes tardigrades so resilient, scientists hope to uncover ways to protect astronauts on long missions. The display study will guide better user-interface designs for spacecraft and could also benefit touchscreen technology on Earth.

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Scientists Discover Clicking Sounds in Rig Sharks for the First Time

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June 8, 2025

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Scientists Discover Clicking Sounds in Rig Sharks for the First Time

Sharks have long been regarded as silent predators, but a new study shows that small rig sharks (Mustelus lenticulatus) can make clicking sounds when handled. Evolutionary biologist Carolin Nieder discovered the noise by accident during shark hearing tests. In lab trials, juvenile rigs emitted rapid “click…click” noises when restrained. The results, published in Royal Society Open Science, represent “the first documented case of a shark making sounds”. Nieder recalls: “At first we had no idea what it was, because sharks were not supposed to make any sounds”

Accidental Discovery in the Lab

According to the study, Nieder’s team had placed an underwater microphone in a tank to test shark hearing. During routine handling, a researcher reached in and heard a clear “click…click” coming from the shark’s mouth. Rig sharks have broad, flat, cusp-shaped teeth for crushing crustaceans, and the forceful snapping of these teeth likely produces the sound.

Nieder then followed up with systematic trials on ten rig sharks. In repeated tests, every shark emitted click bursts when grasped—averaging about nine clicks per 20-second handling episode. Notably, clicks were most frequent in early trials and largely stopped as the sharks became accustomed. Because the clicks were strongest during initial capture, the researchers speculate this might be a voluntary stress or defensive response. Nieder cautions that this hypothesis needs formal testing under natural conditions.

Implications for Shark Biology and Communication

If confirmed, these findings suggest surprising complexity in shark communication. Sharks and their relatives (rays and skates) lack the gas-filled swim bladders that most bony fish use to make sound. Sharks were long assumed silent. Yet the rig’s clicks hint that sharks may use sound for alarm or communication.

Nieder also found that rigs hear only low frequencies (below ~1,000 Hz)—far lower than the human range. “They are sensitive to electric fields, but if you were a shark I would need to talk a lot louder to you than to a goldfish,” she notes. The researchers say further work is needed to see if rigs click in the wild as an alarm or social signal.

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Scientists Discover Heaviest Proton-Emitting Nucleus After Nearly 30 Years

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June 8, 2025

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Scientists Discover Heaviest Proton-Emitting Nucleus After Nearly 30 Years

Nuclear physicists have detected the radioactive disintegration of a rare isotope of astatine for the first time. This shows that the heaviest element found in nature may be modified a lot, maybe even destroyed, in a way that scientists didn’t predict. That oddball radioactive decay with 85 protons and 103 neutrons is almost (but not quite) a nuclear species that we would call stable. The finding was made by researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, and it’s a major development for nuclear physics. It describes something that just shouldn’t be and then shows us what the forces are that make for heavy atomic structures.

Rare Proton Decay in 188At Sheds Light on Extreme Nuclear Shapes and Stability Limits

As per a report published in Nature Communications on May 29, 2025, the isotope was produced using a fusion-evaporation reaction that entailed the irradiation of a natural silver target with strontium-84 ions. The exotic nucleus, 188 At, has a pronouncedly prolate form (of a ”watermelon” type) generated by the neutron and proton normal and attractive interaction in the inner shells of heavy nuclei experienced as a projectile in our case study.

Henna Kokkonen, the doctoral researcher who made the discovery, has mentioned that the proton emitted allows an unstable nucleus to progress towards stability by getting rid of a proton. The 190 At isotope was found by Kokkonen with the investigation of rare decay in the heavy nucleus, the rare interaction in the binding energy of the proton, and presumably a tendency change in the heavy atom region.

The team of the theory and experiment workshop pointed out the importance of exploring new decay modes and testing predictive models at the extremes of the periodic table. They also talked about how technology has improved in making and studying isotopes with short lifetimes.

Isotope discoveries of this scale remain rare in modern nuclear physics. Kokkonen expressed pride in contributing to a global effort that deepens our understanding of atomic structure. Each such finding helps refine our knowledge of nuclear forces, elemental formation, and the fundamental limits of matter. The breakthrough underscores how even after a century of nuclear science, the field continues to yield surprises from the smallest building blocks of the universe.

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