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As it readies its constellation of <keyword id="21665619" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Earth-observation-satellites" source="keywords">Earth observation satellites</keyword>, <keyword id="22385578" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bengaluru-based-startup" source="keywords">Bengaluru-based startup</keyword> <keyword id="22317867" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pixxel-Space" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Pixxel Space" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Pixxel Space">Pixxel Space</keyword> has plans to map the Moon and <keyword id="20578027" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="asteroids" source="keywords">asteroids</keyword>, and look for materials required to build settlements in outer space. In an interaction with PTI editors at the agency's headquarters here, Pixxel Space co-founder and CEO Awais Ahmed spelt out the long-term plans of the startup and these include exploration of asteroids with the intention of finding building materials or possible <keyword id="22407481" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fuel-sources" source="keywords">fuel sources</keyword> for future settlements in space. "We are building hyper-spectral cameras that look at the Earth. The same cameras can be turned outwards to look at other objects in space. We can send these spacecraft to the Moon, <keyword id="19901192" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mars" source="keywords">Mars</keyword> or the asteroid belt, and build a map of the solar system," Ahmed said. He said the startup would also like to place satellites in orbits around the Moon -- cis-lunar orbits -- to explore the Earth's only natural satellite in greater detail. "We can go between Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt and identify which of these asteroids are stunning and useless, and which of them have certain precious materials that can be useful in space," Ahmed said. Satellites can look for ice on asteroids which can be used as fuel by splitting it into hydrogen and oxygen, and can also be stored as water, he said. "So, when humanity expands towards space it does not make sense to mine all of that material from Earth when there's so much more material actually available in space," ahmed said. He said Elon Musk's SpaceX was building railroads for the space revolution, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and others were building habitats for space. "We want to be the ones to provide the material to sort of make it all happen. But very long term vision," Ahmed said. Pixxel Space plans to launch six hyper-spectral satellites later this year as part of its constellation to map the Earth in greater detail. Another 18 satellites are slated for launch next year that will complete the Bengaluru-based startup's constellation in low Earth orbit.

Bengaluru-based Pixxel Space plans to mine asteroids for building settlements in space

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The second moon that Earth has captured in its orbit this month is an asteroid called 2024 PT5.</li><li>Mini-moons like this could be ideal targets for asteroid mining to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-havent-we-been-to-mars-yet-2024-5">send humans deeper into space</a>.</li></ul>The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/second-moon-orbiting-earth-when-why-what-to-know-2024-9 ">second moon that Earth now has for two months</a> may seem like just a fun curiosity, but it's also a sneak peek at a future space industry that could change our global economy.An asteroid called 2024 PT5, which normally orbits the sun as part of the Arjuna asteroid belt, was <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astronomers-photograph-mini-moon-small-object-in-orbit-2020-2">captured in Earth's orbit</a> on Sunday, according to astronomers' projections. Astronomers expect it to spend about 57 days traveling along a horseshoe-shaped path around Earth before rejoining its asteroid belt.For those 57 days, the school-bus-sized <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-impact-simulation-experts-fear-congress-would-delay-action-2024-6">asteroid</a> will be a "natural satellite" of Earth — basically another, temporary moon.<div type="image" title="screenshot of asteroid profile page showing illustration of a bumpy candy-corn-shaped grey asteroid in space with a text box labeling it 2024 PT5 and saying its average estimated diameter is 10.76 m" height="1537" width="2864" msid="113817839" hostid="261" sizebytes="68552"></div>That makes it economically intriguing. "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fake-moon-asteroid-orbiting-sun-alongside-earth-astronomers-discover-2023-6">Mini-moons</a>" like this are ideal targets for mining, according to Carlos de la Fuente Marcos, one of the scientists who charted 2024 PT5's path around our planet.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-mining-company-earth-startups-raw-materials-cobalt-gold-platinum-2021-3">Asteroid mining</a> could someday help humans travel further out into the cosmos and extend our presence through the solar system. That's because some asteroids contain valuable metals like iron or platinum, as well as water.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-plan-colonize-mars-plan-unrealistic-scientists-explain-2023-10">Elon Musk's vision of a city on Mars</a>, for example, depends on asteroid mining. Temporary moons like 2024 PT5 could be a key stepping stone."Mini-moons are very important for the nascent global <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6">space economy</a>," Marcos told Business Insider in an email. Because they come so close to Earth and take a sojourn in our orbit, he added, "they are among the objects easier to reach using low-cost missions."<h2 id="462c4c69-18b1-4a3f-8e7d-7cb0491d6b39">Asteroids can be worth quintillions</h2>Asteroid 2024 PT5 may not be worth much, since scientists think it's made of basalt.It's basically "a giant boulder," Teddy Kareta, a planetary scientist at the Lowell Observatory, told Business Insider.But some asteroids contain so much metal that they're <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-visit-psyche-asteroid-worth-more-than-entire-world-economy-2023-10">worth more than our entire global economy</a>.Take Psyche, for example, an asteroid that NASA is sending a spacecraft to for scientific study, since the agency believes it to be the core of a long-dead planet.Psyche's metal-rich makeup — mostly iron and nickel — makes it worth an estimated $100 quintillion if it were here on Earth.<div type="image" title="graphic of what the asteroid is thought to look like" height="900" width="1600" msid="113817842" hostid="261" sizebytes="175866"></div>Some asteroids even have precious metals like platinum, gold, and cobalt.Nobody has mined an asteroid yet, though <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-osiris-rex-probe-landing-on-asteroid-kicking-dust-2020-10">NASA punched one</a> in 2020 to grab scientific samples from it.Some startups are trying to figure out how to start mining space rocks, and do it in a cost-effective way. Flying to an asteroid isn't cheap.One of them, called <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-mining-startup-has-booked-its-first-test-mission-spacex-2022-6">AstroForge, has launched a small probe with SpaceX</a>, though the spacecraft wasn't able to conduct the testing they'd planned, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.space.com/asteroid-mining-astroforge-docking-mission-2025">Space.com</a>. The company is now planning two more missions, which it hopes will culminate in its first landing on a metallic asteroid in 2025.<h2 id="e5b0dd4a-bb61-4c4d-a49c-2d9e9a2960a9">Pit stops on the way to Mars</h2>Long-distance <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-invest-mars-pulsed-plasma-rocket-shorten-space-time-travel-2024-7">deep-space missions</a>, especially if they're carrying humans and cargo, will have a fuel problem.Fuel is heavy, so the less of it you have to load onto a spacecraft the better. On the long flight to Mars or other planets, asteroids could become gas stations.That's because <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/506/1/L6/6298231?login=false">research</a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018JE005584">suggests</a> that many asteroids in Earth's neighborhood are rich in water, which can be mined and split into its elementary components — hydrogen and oxygen, both of which are critical for making rocket fuel.Mini-moons are perfect places to start, some scientists think, because of their proximity to Earth but also because of how small they are.It takes an immense amount of rocket fuel to escape Earth's powerful gravitational pull. But little asteroids don't have much gravity, making it easy to leapfrog off of them."It only takes a puff of fuel to leave the mini-moon and head back towards Earth," Richard Binzel, a planetary scientist at MIT, previously told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/undiscovered-minimoons-may-orbit-earth-could-they-help-us-become-an-interplanetary-species">Live Science</a>.<h2 id="bf8bc193-7a0a-4a09-9d9c-2c6ac7e8d411">Mini-moon missions at the ready</h2>One problem with mini-moons is that scientists sometimes don't see them coming until a few weeks before they're captured in our planet's orbit.Asteroid 2024 PT5, for example, was first identified as a mini-moon in early September and will only be in Earth's orbit for about 57 days.That's a tight timeline for preparing and launching a mining mission. For any asteroid, "you need to learn enough about it to know whether it's worth sending a rocket up," Kareta said.Asteroid-mining companies can work around that by having mining spacecraft ready in Earth's orbit, waiting for the right space rock to zoom by, Marcos said."Either if you are thinking about collecting mineral samples for research or starting a space mining venture, mini-moons are your best bet to get your business off the ground," he said.

Mini-moons like the one Earth just captured could be huge business opportunities

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA launched Europa Clipper to see if <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oxygen-europa-life-surface-ocean-subsurface-earth-juno-mission-jupiter-2024-3">Jupiter's moon Europa</a> could host alien life.</li><li>Scientists think Europa contains a vast saltwater ocean deep beneath its surface.</li></ul><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-nasa-could-tell-us-aliens-are-real-2023-2">NASA is serious about searching for alien life</a>, even within our own solar system.On Monday, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the agency launched a spacecraft toward Europa, a moon of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jupiter-images-webb-sees-rings-moons-hubble-cant-2022-8">Jupiter</a>.Scientists believe Europa contains a vast saltwater ocean deep beneath its icy crust, with twice as much water as Earth. It's perhaps the most promising place in our solar system for active <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asks-help-retrieving-perseverance-mars-samples-alien-life-2024-4">extraterrestrial life</a>.<div type="image" title="Europa" height="1700" width="2300" msid="114225773" hostid="261" sizebytes="181080"></div>The NASA mission, called Europa Clipper, aims to figure out whether <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/space-lava-from-moon-volcanoes-creates-jupiters-powerful-aurora-lights-2022-2">the Jupiter moon</a> and its ocean could support life. It's the largest interplanetary spacecraft NASA has ever built. The probe is about 16 feet tall and, when its vast wings of solar arrays are deployed, 100 feet wide. It weighs three-and-a-half tons.Clipper is undertaking the first targeted exploration of an <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-underwater-rover-hunt-alien-life-on-ocean-worlds-2019-11">ocean world</a> beyond our planet.Even if there is no life on Europa, this mission is crucial in the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-no-contact-with-aliens-2019-9">search for alien life</a>, since ocean worlds across the galaxy are prime candidates for life.Missions like Europa Clipper are "modern cathedrals" and "generational quests," said Laurie Leshin, the director of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-mars-helicopter-pilot-what-job-is-like-advice-2023-1">NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a>, which built the spacecraft.<div type="image" title="giant spacecraft folded up between red Airbus panels with a large round foil-covered piece on the front with technicians in blue clean suits standing nearby in a giant white clearnroom" height="1280" width="1920" msid="114225774" hostid="261" sizebytes="132976"></div>"We scientists have been dreaming about a mission like Europa Clipper for more than 20 years. We've been working to build it for 10 years," she added in a briefing about the mission in September. "It's going to be another 10 years, because <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-animation-planetary-scientist-huge-solar-system-2019-11">Jupiter's so far away</a>, until we have all the science in the bag."The spacecraft must travel 1.8 billion miles to get to Jupiter, getting a boost from Mars's gravity along the way. It's scheduled to arrive in April 2030.<h2 id="ccd765aa-2885-424c-ab06-309d5a9fdb77">A 7-body problem and unfathomable radiation</h2>Life exists without sunlight at the bottom of the ocean here on Earth. All it needs is an energy source, like hydrothermal vents which release heat from deep within the planet, and organic molecules containing essential elements like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen.Europa Clipper is carrying nine scientific instruments to look for the fingerprints of those molecules, measure the salinity and depth of the underground ocean, and take photos of Europa down to one meter of resolution, among other things.<div type="image" title="illustration of a spacecraft with long wings of solar panels above a white moon covered in crisis crossed brown lines with jupiter in the distant background in space" height="1121" width="1995" msid="114225771" hostid="261" sizebytes="107104"></div>"Clipper is not actually going to look for life itself, but it's going to characterize the habitability of Europa," Gina DiBraccio, the acting director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in the briefing.The mission is designed to orbit Jupiter and fly past Europa 49 times, each time soaring over a different area to eventually cover almost the entire moon, pole to pole. The spacecraft will skim as close as 16 miles above Europa's surface.The mission plan is a marvel of engineering. Rather than a three-body problem, falling into orbit around Jupiter is a "seven-body problem" because of the planet's large moons, Jordan Evans, the mission's project manager, said in the briefing.During each flyby, Clipper will bathe in radiation from Jupiter that's equivalent to "a few million chest X-rays," Evans added.It might even find out if Europa's ice really <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-jupiter-oceanic-moon-europa-radioactive-glow-2020-11">glows in the dark from that radiation</a>, as NASA research has previously indicated.

NASA launches a probe to find out if there really could be alien life on Jupiter's moon Europa

New Delhi, What was known in theory has now been confirmed twice. The Chandrayaan-3 mission has authenticated the presence of sulphur on the lunar south pole region after on site tests, a historical first that could provide clues to the origins of the Moon and also have profound significance for space exploration, say scientists. On Thursday, India's space agency ISRO said the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) instrument onboard the Pragyan rover confirmed the presence of sulphur and some other elements in the lunar south. Before that, on Tuesday, ISRO announced that another instrument, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), found sulphur in the region. In line with expectations, ISRO also reported the LIBS instrument had detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen. "The elements found on the Moon are not merely isolated compounds. They are time capsules carrying the whispers of cosmic history. Such findings not only reshape our comprehension of lunar formations but also offer potential prospects for lunar exploration and habitation," Akash Sinha, who was involved in developing software for the Pragyan rover, told PTI. "One prevailing theory is that the sulphur may be trapped within water ice, implying that we might be on the brink of a monumental discovery: the physical presence of water ice on the moon," the professor of practice at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence in Delhi-NCR added. An old undated document from the US space agency NASA suggested the potential utilisation of sulphur for making lunar bricks or concrete using it with moon soil. Interestingly, China's reported plans to test printing bricks from lunar soil this decade for constructing a permanent moon base align with this idea. The revelation of sulphur's presence might hold clues to the Moon's composition and its volcanic past, scientists said. "Surface sulphur comes from volcanic activity, indicating heavy volcanism at some point in the Moon's history. However, the detection is from only one spot, so we need more data to gain a clearer picture," said T V Venkateswaran, a scientist at Vigyaan Prasar, an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Sinha added that the discovery of sulphur represents a significant breakthrough in the understanding of lunar geology. "The presence of sulphur, especially in an area where volcanic activity-a common source of sulphur-is notably absent opens up intriguing possibilities about the origins of the Moon," he said. According to astrophysicist Sandip Chakrabarti, the in-situ measurements definitively confirm sulphur's presence in the region, a feat beyond the capabilities of the instruments on the previous Chandrayaan 1 and 2 orbiters. "The compositions show abundant lighter metals such as aluminium and also abundant sulphur and iron. Sulphur could come from lunar volcanoes. Only traces of heavy metals such as titanium, and chromium, were found. These are along the expected lines," Chakrabarti, director of the Indian Center for Space Physics in Kolkata, told PTI. These elements, he explained, aren't in their pure form and would need processing for future extraction. "The discoveries made by Chandrayaan-3 hold vast implications for lunar exploration. Beyond the allure of space travel, the presence of these elements paints a vivid picture of the Moon's character," Chakrabarti reflected. Experts also believe that aluminium's lightweight strength could become a resource for future missions, potentially transforming the Moon into a launchpad for further space exploration. Calcium's critical role in biological processes could fuel discussions about the Moon's potential as a scientific research hub. Chakrabarti expressed his enthusiasm for Pragyan's contribution. "It is indeed heartening that Pragyan is actually sending the composition of the topsoil of the landing area, namely, Shiv-Shakti point." He also highlighted the need for helium, hydrogen and water for future space travel, survival and power generation. "Right now, we are concentrating on survival on the Moon and not getting richer," he added. ISRO has initiated a thorough investigation into the presence of hydrogen. Venkateswaran, who is also a member of the outreach committee of the Astronomical Society of India, emphasised the rover's role in confirming a finding from Chandrayaan-1 about hydrogen particles reflected by the Moon's surface in 2008. "We do need to see water in any of its forms and hydrogen. That would be a genuine achievement," Chakrabarti added. Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole on August 23, making India the first country to land on the uncharted surface.

Chandrayaan's detection of sulphur, other elements will help unveil Moon's mysteries, say experts

In a significant development, the <keyword id="53289" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-2" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-2</keyword> orbiter which was already fixed around the <keyword id="42440" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="moon" source="Orion">moon</keyword> established a two-way connection with the lander module of <keyword id="8011274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chandrayaan-3" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-3</keyword> on Monday. "'Welcome, buddy!' Ch-2 orbiter formally welcomed Ch-3 LM (lander module). Two-way communication between the two is established. MOX (Mission Operations Complex) has now more routes to reach the LM," ISRO posted on X, formerly Twitter. Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 IST. Live actions will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 17:27 IST on Aug 23, 2023. Ahead of the much-awaited soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon, former director of the <keyword id="116095" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="indian-space-research-organisation" source="Orion">Indian Space Research Organisation</keyword> (ISRO) and in-charge of the previous lunar mission 'Chandrayaan-2', K Sivan on Monday said that the mission will be a "grand success". "It's a very anxious moment...I'm sure that this time it will be a grand success," Sivan said while speaking to ANI. "We have our own system and we will be establishing a soft landing without any problem. But it is a complex process," he said while responding to a question asked whether there would be any impact after the failure of Russia's Luna-25 mission. Russia's moon mission failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and smashed into the moon on Sunday. He said that corrective measures have been taken after going through data generated by the Chandrayaan-2 mission. When asked if those additional systems too were indigenous, Sivan said, "Everything is indigenous." Earlier today, ISRO released images of the lunar far side area captured by the Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC). This camera assists in locating a safe landing area -- without boulders or deep trenches -- during the descent. Notably, the 'Vikram' lander module of the spacecraft successfully separated from the propulsion module recently, and subsequently underwent crucial deboosting manoeuvres and descended to a slightly lower orbit. The Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander is named after <keyword id="29151" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vikram-sarabhai" source="Orion">Vikram Sarabhai</keyword> (1919-1971), who is widely regarded as the father of the Indian space programme. A GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle was used for the launch of the spacecraft that was placed in the lunar orbit on August 5 and since then it has been through a series of orbital manoeuvres been lowered closer to the moon's surface. It has been a month and seven days since the Indian Space Research Organisation launched the Chandrayaan-3 mission on July 14. The spacecraft was launched from the <keyword id="6356967" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="satish-dhawan-space-centre" source="Orion">Satish Dhawan Space Centre</keyword> in Andhra Pradesh's Sriharikota. The stated objectives of Chandrayaan-3, <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s third lunar mission, are safe and soft landing, rover roving on the moon's surface, and in-situ scientific experiments. The approved cost of Chandrayaan-3 is Rs 250 crores (excluding launch vehicle cost). Chandrayaan-3's development phase commenced in January 2020 with the launch planned sometime in 2021. However, the Covid-19 pandemic brought an unforeseen delay to the mission's progress. The key scientific outcomes from Chandrayaan-2 include the first-ever global map for lunar sodium, enhancing knowledge on crater size distribution, unambiguous detection of lunar surface water ice with IIRS instrument and more. Moon serves as a repository of the Earth's past and a successful lunar mission by India will help enhance life on Earth while also enabling it to explore the rest of the solar system and beyond. (ANI) SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/webstories/tax-filers-earning-more-than-1-crore-increase-by-nearly-50-percent/slidelist/102895925.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/webstories/tax-filers-earning-more-than-1-crore-increase-by-nearly-50-percent/slidelist/102895925.cms" target="_blank">Crorepatis rising: Here’s how the income of Indian tax filers has changed in one year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/personal-finance/news/how-to-find-unclaimed-bank-deposits-using-udgam-portal/articleshow/102830161.cms">Have unclaimed bank deposits? Here’s how to find it using UDGAM portal</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/india-crosses-the-2-billion-mark-in-its-journey-to-become-a-smartphone-manufacturing-powerhouse/articleshow/102760757.cms">India crosses the 2 billion mark in its journey to become a smartphone manufacturing powerhouse</a>

"Welcome, buddy!" Chandrayaan-2 orbiter greets Chandrayaan-3 lander as they establish communication

New Delhi [India], July 13 (ANI): <keyword id="8011274" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chandrayaan-3" source="Orion">Chandrayaan-3</keyword>, India's third lunar exploration mission, will make India the fourth country to land its spacecraft on the surface of the moon and demonstrate the country's abilities for safe and soft landing on lunar surface. The countdown for the launch of the mission began on Thursday at 14:35:17 IST ahead of take-off on Friday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. The spacecraft will be launched on a GSLV Mark 3 (LVM 3) heavy-lift launch vehicle. This will be Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) follow-up attempt after the Chandrayaan-2 mission faced challenges during its soft landing in 2019. The 'Launch Rehearsal' simulating the entire launch preparation and process has been concluded by the ISRO. A day ahead of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, a team of ISRO scientists on Thursday visited and offered prayers at Tirupathi Venkatachalapathy Temple in Andhra Pradesh with a miniature model of Chandrayaan-3. If all goes well, Chandrayaan-3 will be the first spacecraft to land on Moon's South Pole, demonstrating India's technical prowess and bold spacefaring ambitions. Chandrayaan-3 mission will demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, rover roving on the moon and conducting in-situ scientific experiments. ISRO invited citizens to witness the launch of the much-awaited Chandrayaan-3 from the viewing gallery at Sriharikota. During the Chandrayaan-2 mission, ISRO lost contact with the lander when it was just a notch away from the moon's surface. The journey from Earth to the moon for the to-be-launched spacecraft is estimated to take around a month and the landing is expected on August 23. Upon landing, it will operate for one lunar day, which is approximately 14 Earth days. One day on Moon is equal to 14 days on Earth. K Sivan, former director of ISRO, told that the success of mission Chandrayan-3 will give a morale boost to programs like Gaganyan. "We understood what went wrong with Chandrayan-2 when we could not land on the moon's surface, we recreated the failure modes and we ensured that this time we have success. The challenge is the same as Chandrayan-2, same environment for landing. This time we hope that we have done enough based on the lesson of Chandrayan-2 that gives us more confidence. In space there are always unknown unknowns...hope that all issues are addressed and that we emerge with success," he said. "We are getting tech landing on a celestial body. By landing successfully, we will acquire landing technology and it will be good for future generations. A number of scientific experiments are planned and scientists will have more knowledge of the moon's geology and the earth's origin," he added. Mylswamy Annadurai, Mission Director of Chandrayaan-1, said Chandrayaan-3 is a very important mission. "We have shown that we can orbit, but we could not do a soft landing, By doing so this time we can show that Chandrayan-1 was not an isolated success. Internationally, the world is looking back to the moon, the real seeding for that came from Chandrayaan-1. So we need to make this mission successful," he told ANI. "Hard lessons were learnt from Chandrayaan 1 and 2. At every step, we are supposed to have a plan B. There were some setbacks in Chandrayaan- 2. This time we are back on track. We are clear on what we want to do and it will ensure we can softly land on the surface of the moon. The target of landing is also larger, all elements have been tested multiple times, we hope this is a success...," he added. Chandrayaan-3's development phase commenced in January 2020 with plans to launch it somewhere in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays in the development process. The major discovery of the Chandrayaan-1 mission, launched in 2008, is the detection of water (H2O) and hydroxyl (OH) on the lunar surface. Data also revealed their enhanced abundance towards the polar region. The primary science objective of the mission was to prepare a three-dimensional atlas of both the near and far sides of the Moon and to conduct chemical and mineralogical mapping of the entire lunar surface with high spatial resolution, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre under ISRO had said. Moon serves as a repository of earth's past and a successful lunar mission by India will help in enhancing life on Earth and prepare to explore the rest of the solar system - and beyond. Director of Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO), S Somanath, had said that if everything goes well, the spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23. The date has been decided based on sunrise on the moon but if it gets delayed, then landing may take place next month, he said. (ANI)

Chandrayaan 3: Countdown starts for India's third moon mission

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA has canceled its VIPER moon rover project.</li><li>NASA will still send a spacecraft to the moon and pay a company $323 million for the trip.</li></ul>NASA is scrapping a moon rover it spent $450 million to construct, and axing the machine's mission to find water on the moon. The agency discontinued the development of VIPER — or Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover — because it proved exceedingly expensive.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-ends-viper-project-continues-moon-exploration/#:~:text=Following%20a%20comprehensive%20internal%20review,stand%20down%20on%20the%20mission.">NASA's statement on Wednesday</a> said that the rover was to be scrapped because of "cost increases, delays to the launch date, and the risks of future cost growth."It also said that continuing the rover project would result in an "increased cost that threatens cancellation or disruption" to other lunar research missions.The rover, a car-sized robot that was supposed to explore the south side of the moon in search of "ice and other potential resources," has already been built, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/17/science/nasa-viper-moon-rover-canceled.html">The New York Times reported</a>.However, tests to ensure that it could survive the shaking of the spacecraft and the environment of space have not yet been conducted.According to the Times, the agency would save at least $84 million by not conducting the testing and not having to operate the rover on the moon.VIPER's launch, which was scheduled for fall 2025, had already been delayed multiple times.It was initially set to launch in late 2023. However, that launch was delayed to 2024 to allow more time to test the privately commissioned spacecraft Griffin, which was supposed to carry the rover to the moon.Although the rover itself has been scrapped, the Griffin Lander will continue with its journey. And NASA will still pay the company that built the spacecraft — the Astrobotic Technology Inc. of Pittsburgh — $323 million for the task, per the Times.Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in the science directorate, told The Times that Griffin's landing would still be valuable even without the rover on board. NASA maintains that it is "committed to studying and exploring the Moon for the benefit of humanity.""The agency has an array of missions planned to look for ice and other resources on the Moon over the next five years," Nicola Fox, an associate administrator in the agency's science mission directorate, said in a statement.The statement also added that any US industry and international companies that wish to use VIPER before it is disassembled could contact the agency after July 18.News of the rover's scrapping comes as two NASA astronauts <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-boeing-starliner-good-feeling-be-back-safe-2024-7">remain stuck in space</a> after issues were detected with the spacecraft they went up in — the Boeing Starliner.The duo — Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — arrived at the International Space Station via the Boeing Starliner on June 6 after a series of delays that postponed the craft's launch by a month.While they were supposed to stay for only eight to 10 days, they have been stuck on the space station for over a month now, with no return date scheduled.Representatives for NASA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

NASA is scrapping a moon rover that it spent $450 million to build

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Earth may have helped give rise to water on the moon while shielding it from solar winds.</li><li>This defies a leading theory suggesting the moon needs solar radiation to make water. </li></ul>The Earth may have helped give rise to water on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientist-microbial-life-hiding-on-moon-south-pole-2023-6">moon</a>, scientists have found.A cosmic tail of invisible electrons trailing our planet could have generated water on the lunar surface, according to a <a href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=bf4ad4f46b0fc54c40d14537169f48fd35835333be058dfacc8d357651aa718a&amp;postID=65082c4977744faa55ce652e&amp;postSlug=invisible-force-earth-creating-water-on-the-moon-study-electrons-2023-9&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41550-023-02081-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study published</a> on Thursday.The finding may help scientists crack the mystery of how water made it to our satellite, and how much water will be available during deep space missions to<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-helping-private-companies-build-business-moon-make-lunar-billions-2023-6"> planets such as Mars</a>.<h2>How does water make it to the moon? </h2>This is the billion-dollar question.Space agencies and private firms are hatching big plans to take <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">humans away from Earth</a> into our solar system. Having water-rich pit stops along the way is crucially important to these missions so future astronauts can fill up on air, water, and propellants along the way, <a href="https://www.planetary.org/articles/water-on-the-moon-guide">The Planetary Society</a> said on their website. This is why the moon has been getting a lot of attention lately: our satellite is about 100 times drier than the Sahara desert, <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/inside-and-out/composition/water-and-ices/">per NASA</a>, but recent research has confirmed that there is water peppered around its surface.The bulk of the water is mostly seen on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-scientists-discover-moons-hidden-water-stores-2020-10">moon's poles</a> in the form of water ice.There, the water is thought to have come from other planetary bodies — for instance, comets and asteroids that crashed into the surface over billions of years. Another theory is the water was stripped from the Earth as the moon split away.Most of that water is thought to have since evaporated into space under the sun's intense rays. What's left, then, persists in craters that are permanently in the shadows. Other research has found that a little water is also <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/glass-beads-moon-store-297-billion-tons-water-study-china-2023-3">created on the moon</a>.In that case, the leading theory is that water is linked with protons that come from the sun. As solar winds blast the moon's surface, these combine with oxygen in the lunar soil to make water, per The Planetary Society.But this new finding suggests there could be more to this story. <div type="image" title="Pictures taken by a satellite show the moon crossing the Earth." height="553" width="738" msid="103764267" hostid="261" sizebytes="22254"></div><h2>The Earth could be helping the moon make water</h2>The puzzling new observation, published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy, suggests the moon could be making water even when the Earth is shielding it from solar winds. The Earth is always protecting us from the worst of solar weather. Our planet's strong magnetic field deflects most of the solar particles that come our way. <div type="image" title="Solar Wind" height="271" width="542" msid="103764268" hostid="261" sizebytes="27330"></div>By re-analyzing data collected between 2008 and 2009 by India's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-india-moon-landing-cost-cheap-compared-to-nasa-russia-2023-8">Chandrayaan-1</a> mission, scientists spotted that some water was being created on the moon when it was crossing the Earth's magnetotail, a sheet of plasma trapped between magnetic fields stretched outwards by the solar winds skimming our planet.Notably, solar winds in the magnetotail are reduced by as much as 99%, per the study.<div type="image" title="A diagram shows solar radiation stretching earth's magnetic fields into long lines on the night side of the Earth, creating a sheet of electron plasma called the magnetotail. A circle highlights the magnetotail in the diagram." height="525" width="711" msid="103764269" hostid="261" sizebytes="56302"></div>The findings raise an interesting proposition: If even a little water can be generated when solar winds are virtually gone, do you need the solar winds to make water on the moon? Per the scientists, it's possible the high energy electrons in the magnetotail could have "similar effects as the solar wind protons" when it comes to creating water, Li said in the statement. "We suggest that although we have confirmed the importance of the solar wind as a major source of fast water production on the moon, hitherto unobserved properties of the plasma sheet" could play an important role, the scientists said in the study. The findings add to the many theories that are seeking to explain water on the lunar surface.Li and colleagues aim to work with NASA to monitor plasma and water content on the lunar surface to see if their theory checks out.If confirmed, this could have wider-reaching implications, particularly with regard to water found in the moon's shadowy craters, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1001523" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scientists said in an accompanying press release.</a>If you don't need the sun to create water on the moon, it's possible the water seen in these craters doesn't have to have come from comets. It could have been generated in situ. "This provides a natural laboratory for studying the formation processes of lunar surface water," said Li.

An invisible force surrounding Earth may be creating water on the moon

Could we discover conditions necessary for life outside the Earth in the solar system? This is one of the mysteries that the space mission JUICE (for <keyword id="34757" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="jupiter" source="Orion">JUpiter</keyword> ICy moons Explorer) will look to elucidate. Initially set to be launched from Kourou, French Guiana, in the early afternoon of Thursday 13 April 2023, the spacecraft will now be leaving on Friday due to bad weather. To propel this mission to a planet located more than 600 million kilometres away, the European Space Agency (ESA) has brought together no fewer than 13 European countries, as well as the United States, Japan, and Israel. Through this mission, the agency has also managed the feat of placing JUICE on the launch pad only 11 years after the project was greenlit. While the Covid pandemic slowed down the process, the delay was only nine months. France's team, of which I am a part, also helped develop six of JUICE's ten state-of-the-art scientific instruments. The probe is expected to arrive in the Jovian system in 2031. Stretching science's boundaries Jupiter is both the largest planet in our solar system and the one with the most moons. To date, estimates of their number hover between 82 and 95, most of which have been discovered in the last two decades. JUICE is the first mission to receive more than 1 billion euros of funding as part of the ESA's Cosmic Vision programme. It seeks to address four main questions: <ul><li>How do planets come to form and life to emerge? </li><li>How does the Solar System work?</li><li>What are the fundamental laws of physics in the universe?</li><li>How did the present universe come into being and what is it made of?</li></ul> JUICE was chosen ahead of other proposed missions because it was designed to address the first and last of these questions. The <keyword id="145693" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hubble-space-telescope" source="Orion">Hubble Space Telescope</keyword> and <keyword id="6360409" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword>'s space probes Voyager, Galileo, Juno have already picked up some clues either by direct observation or deduction. "Ocean moons" containing more water than the Earth NASA's Galileo was the first to discover water on the moons in 1995. Data captured by the space probe revealed gigantic liquid oceans not only under the crusts of its three icy moons, Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, but also on its volcanic moon, Io. In 2014, the Hubble Space Telescope discovered geysers in Europa. Their bases appeared to be caked with salts, including carbonates. It is therefore likely Europa could meet the four criteria for habitability: <ul><li>The famous quartet of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen (CHON), symbols of the main chemical elements that constitute living beings.</li><li> Liquid water that acts as a solvent.</li><li> Energy to enable the development of life.</li><li> A stable environment (orbits, rotation, average temperatures...)</li></ul> The Galilean moons further enjoy the gravitational energy of Jupiter, creating significant tidal effects and allowing the last two conditions above to be met. Why Ganymede is the main objective Ganymede is set to studied in much more depth by JUICE than Callisto and Europa. This is not only because it is the largest moon in the Solar System, but also an ocean moon with its own magnetic field. Similarly to the Earth's magnetosphere, Ganymede's has the potential to protect life by diverting the flow of cosmic rays and radiative particles from Jupiter's radiation belts. Along the way, JUICE will have to contend with the Solar System's highest radiation levels. This means that its electronic modules have to be housed in lead-shielded cavities and components have to be "hardened" to help them resist the harsh environment. JUICE will also have to cope with extreme temperatures, ranging from +250°C as it flies by Venus to -230°C in the Jovian system. To maintain a stable internal temperature, the spacecraft has been coated with a multilayer thermal insulation made out of grey silicon aluminium alloy, earning the probe the nickname "silver beauty". An energy problem Around Jupiter, which is five times further from the Sun than Earth, the satellite will receive 25 times less solar energy than it would around Earth. The spacecraft does not carry a radioactive battery because Europe is not yet able to produce them industrially, unlike the United States, Russia and China. To enable the equipment and instruments to function with 1000W (the power of a small hairdryer), the craft will rely on huge solar panels - their surface area totals 85m2 - that have been tested to withstand the radiation and temperature variations. Built by 80 European companies under the direction of EADS Toulouse, the JUICE probe has a wingspan of 28 metres (the length of a basketball court), a 2.5-metre long communications antenna (needed because of Jupiter's distance from the Earth). It weighs nearly 6 tonnes at liftoff (most of which is propellant that will be consumed in manoeuvring the probe) and carries ten instruments (in all, less than 280 kg). Ten scientific instruments on board Of these instruments, France - with assistance from Italy - chiefly engineered the Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (<keyword id="17145071" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="majis" source="Orion">MAJIS</keyword>). It is the instrument that will allow the spacecraft to determine the physico-chemical compositions of the moons' surfaces as it flies over them and thus detect the CHON associated with potential habitability. MAJIS will also study their ice sheets and liquid water. This will enable us to identify landing sites for future in situ exploration, and evaluate the structure and dynamics of Jupiter's atmosphere. With an accuracy 10,000 times higher than the equivalent instrument on Galileo, the spatial resolution of MAJIS ranges between 100 metres and several kilometres depending on the probe's altitude at the time. Finally, it should be noted that JUICE's plans may be revised based on the latest results from NASA's Juno mission. Juno is still orbiting Jupiter and has been flying over its poles since 2016. Juno's nominal mission has been extended to fly past each of Jupiter's Galilean moons, starting with Ganymede in June 2021, and Europa in early 2023. These observations and subsequent data analysis will allow JUICE scientists to better target the observations they make - 12 years after Juno and 30 years after Galileo. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/pfizers-new-bivalent-mrna-covid-booster-vax-highly-effective-lancet/articleshow/99488979.cms">Pfizer's new bivalent mRNA Covid booster vax highly effective: Lancet</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/even-mild-covid-infection-can-cause-sudden-hearing-loss-study/articleshow/99488945.cms">Even mild Covid infection can cause sudden hearing loss: Study</a>

Scientists launch JUICE mission to explore Jupiter's icy moons

<ul class="summary-list"><li>China's lunar probe returned to Earth with the first-ever samples from the moon's far side. </li><li>The samples could answer crucial questions about how planets form.</li></ul>China just took a huge leap forward in its plans to dominate space.On Tuesday, its Chang'e-6 lunar probe successfully returned to Earth carrying the first-ever samples from the moon's far side. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrFGMaB9kjo">A video showed </a>an official triumphantly planting a Chinese flag near the capsule in Mongolia after it glided back to our planet by parachute.The samples, which include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rock, could answer crucial questions about how planets form, as well as the moon's history.But they are significant for another reason too.They signify China's growing prowess in orbit, as well as its potential to someday leapfrog the US in the race to dominate space.<h2 id="e5565559-09e3-4a5e-aba9-a6a2fdad33fa">The moon's far side</h2>The moon's far side is considered particularly challenging to explore because of its craters and the difficulty of maintaining communications with vehicles landing there.China is the only country to have landed in this tricky terrain and returned with samples. The latest mission, which launched on May 3, is China's second successful landing on the moon's far side, with the first launched in 2019.Overall, it has soft-landed on the moon four times.The US, meanwhile, has had less luck. In <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astobotic-faulty-valve-doomed-peregrine-moon-lander-lunar-mission-leak-2024-1">January</a>, Astrobiotic <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vulcan-peregrine-us-mission-first-land-moon-astrobotic-human-remains-2024-1">launched a lander</a> into space, with the aim of it being the first American spacecraft to soft land on the moon since the Apollo era.But its hopes were quickly dashed after a <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/astrobotic-moon-lander-leaking-fuel-after-launch-threatening-mission-2024-1">fuel leak</a> caused a failure in the spacecraft's propellant system.In February, Intuitive Machines, in collaboration with NASA, achieved a first: landing a US commercial spacecraft <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-moon-landings-on-lunar-south-pole-crashed-2023-8">on the moon without crashing</a>.But that had complications. As previously reported by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intuitive-machines-im-1-odysseus-moon-lunar-landing-mission-nasa-2024-2">Business Insider,</a> when the spacecraft touched down on the moon, it stopped communicating with mission control.The recent moon-landing scoreboard is "4 to 0.5" in favor of China, Simone Dell'Agnello, a researcher who collaborated with Chang'e 6, told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/historic-moon-mission-gets-china-one-small-step-ahead-in-space-race-41894d41">The Wall Street Journal. </a>"The first difference is that China has missions landing on the fucking moon."<h2 id="31daf330-3f01-460b-9b3b-5b7588f74167">The space race heats up</h2>China is now rivaling the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-beat-us-race-moon-lunar-lander-peregrine-fuel-leak-2024-1">US and Russia as a leading space power. </a>It has its own manned space station, Tiangong, and in 2022 became the second country after the US to land a robotic vehicle on the surface of Mars.Analysts believe that China's leader, Xi Jinping, sees huge economic and military opportunities in space. China is planning to send a crewed flight to the moon by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-beat-us-race-moon-lunar-lander-peregrine-fuel-leak-2024-1">2030 and build a base at the lunar south pole.</a>The US is gearing up for its own space exploration missions and has rival plans to land a crewed flight on the moon and build a base.The head of NASA, Bill Nelson, has said that the US and China are involved in a new "space race" and that China's research missions are being used for covert military activity.He said that China seems to be accelerating its plans to send a crewed flight to the moon."It is incumbent on us to get there first," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5115651/nasa-administrator-race-chine-south-pole-moon">told Congress in April.</a>At stake are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4783/1">water supplies scientists believe may be on the moon's far side</a>, which China could claim. These supplies would be vital for establishing a moon base or for further space exploration.Pentagon officials have warned that China is seeking to potentially disable US satellites if a war breaks out between them.China has insisted its space program is for the benefit of humanity.But it's also a race for control of economic resources and military power in the intensifying rivalry between the US and China.

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