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Chandrayan-2 moon-landing mission called off due to technical snag

Published

5 years ago

on

Chandrayaan-2

The Chandrayan-2 mission to put a rover on the moon was called off due to a ‘technical snag’ detected just about 56 minutes before launch (T minus 56, or T-56) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR) in Sriharikota, announced Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) early morning today (Monday, July 15).

The countdown was halted 56 minutes and 24 seconds before the planned lift-off at 2:51 am. The snag was in the cryogenic stage or last stage of the rocket before it separates, reported NDTV, quoting sources. ISRO had announced one hour before launch that the filling of liquid hydrogen fuel had been completed, the report said.

The announcement of the launch being called off came just about four minutes later. It disappointed the large number of spectators and created commotion in the media gallery of the SHAR where journalists from not only different parts of the country but abroad came to cover the most high-profile launch. More importantly, President Ram Nath Kovind had come to Sriharikota to witness the launch.

ISRO tweeted around 3 am: “A technical snag was observed in launch vehicle system at 1 hour before the launch. As a measure of abundant precaution, #Chandrayaan2 launch has been called off for today. Revised launch date will be announced later,” ISRO tweeted around 3 am.

Third postponement

The postponement of the launch of Chandrayan-2, the first after a countdown, is the third time since April 2018 that the complex launch has been delayed due to multiple factors, reported Deccan Herald.

Its launch was first scheduled in April 2018 but was postponed to October 2018. This too did not happen as ISRO found that the vehicle required further tests. The Mission’s Comprehensive Technical Review meeting eventually decided that the launch could be carried out only in the first half of 2019 because a whole lot of changes in the configuration and landing sequence had to be incorporated.

During one of the multiple tests on the Chandrayaan-2 components, two Lander legs suffered minor damage in February this year, showing that its legs were not strong enough to support the weight. ISRO deduced that additional mass due to new configuration could have caused the imbalance.

The anomaly was eventually addressed by a task force set up under Srinivasan RK from the UR Rao Satellite Centre.

After rectifying all anomalies, July 15 was finalised as a suitable launch window, but it had to be called off due to a technical snag.

Signifinace of Chandrayan-2

Had the launch been successful and the lunar craft landed on the moon on its scheduled date of September 6-7, India would have become the fourth country in the world after USSR, US and China to land on the moon.Israel had tried earlier this year but failed.

India has ambitious plans: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to launch a manned space mission by 2022.

Chandrayaan-2 will follow Chang’e-4, launched by India’s regional rival China, which in January became the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the Moon.

The 3.8-tonne Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft comprising an orbiter, the lander and the rover was to lift off on the 640-tonne GSLV Mark III (nicknamed “Baahubali”), India’s most powerful rocket that’s as high as a 15-storey building.

Once it is launched, Chandrayaan 2 has to separate from the rocket and orbit the Earth several times before being slung towards the moon – a3.84 lakh-km journey. The orbiter is to circle the moon for about a year.

When the spacecraft reaches the moon 54 days after lift-off, it will engage a 1.4 4-tonne lander Vikram named after Vikram A Sarabhai, the father of India’s space programme, which will head to the lunar south pole.

Vikram will in turn set the 27-kilogramme rover Pragyan down on a high plain between two craters on the lunar south pole. After touchdown on the moon, the rover is expected to conduct experiments for one Moon day, equal to 14 Earth days, primarily to check if the lunar south pole has primordial water reserves.

Indigenous and costs less than a Hollywood blockbuster

All the equipment involved in the Chandrayaan 2 mission have been designed and manufactured in India. It is the sequel to the successful Chandrayaan 1, which helped confirm the presence of water on the moon in 2009.

India’s mission to the moon will cost less than a Hollywood blockbuster. An analysis published by Sputnik International claimed that the approximate $124-million price tag of the Chandrayaan 2 is less than half the budget of Hollywood blockbuster Avengers Endgame ($356 million). The Indian space agency has a budget that’s 20 times less than NASA, its US counterpart.

ISRO is becoming known worldwide for running effective and inexpensive projects. According to estimates, America spent $ 25 billion on its Apollo missions, total 15 in number, to Moon. The US missions included 6 Moon missions that put Neil Armstrong and other astronauts to the Moon. China spent $8.4 Billion on its entire space programme in a year. Erstwhile USSR which launched an unmanned craft to the Lunar surface in 1966 spent over $20 billion at the current value between 1960s and 70s.

India’s first lunar mission, Chandrayaan-1, in 2008 did not land on the Moon, but orbited it searching for water using radar.

It follows another high-profile but low-cost Indian mission, Mangalyaan, which put a spacecraft in orbit around Mars in 2014 at a fraction of the cost of comparable projects by established space powers like the United States, which often cost billions of dollars.

New Delhi also has ambitions to land a probe on Mars, following the success of the Mangalyaan orbiter.

Lunar exploration has been in focus in recent months with the looming 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon and US President Donald Trump giving NASA a 2024 deadline to return astronauts to its surface.

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WhatsApp to introduce Native File Sharing feature similar to Apple’s AirDrop

Users can choose to be visible to others without disclosing their phone numbers to people who are not their contacts.

Published

10 months ago

on

January 24, 2024

By

A Meta-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp is all set to introduce a new feature that allows Android users to share files with another user nearby. According to reports, the feature will be developed similar to Apple’s AirDrop.

The file sharing feature nearby is not currently available for beta testers. However, according to a report from WhatsApp feature tracker WABetaInfo, it seems that the feature will soon be introduced. The report reveals a screenshot that shows an option within the app stating, to share files with people nearby, along with a list of nearby users.

It is interesting to note that users can choose to be visible to others without disclosing their phone numbers to people who are not their contacts. In order to share files with other users, one needs to wait for nearby users to accept their request. The process involves a unique interaction, where nearby users can shake their device to receive incoming share requests. It is important to note that this feature is designed with end-to-end encryption to ensure user privacy.

In the upcoming update, WhatsApp is expected to introduce a nearby file-sharing feature. However, the current beta version for Android, which is 2.24.2.20, has addressed a camera issue. Some Android beta testers have reported difficulties in launching the camera within the app after the 2.24.2.13 update. Upon launching, users were presented with an error message that said, can’t start camera, please restart your device. This issue persisted even after restarting the device or relaunching the app.

The latest beta update of WhatsApp, located at 2.24.2.20, has fixed the camera bug. This allows users to launch the camera within the app and share photos and videos with their contacts without any interruptions. As WhatsApp continues its efforts to improve its features and address bugs, users can expect a better messaging experience on the platform.

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Meesho mega blockbuster sale: E-commerce platform to offer 80 percent discount on electronics

The e-commerce platform’s first mega blockbuster sale will sell more than 400 brands directly with the help of authorised partners on its digital store called Meesho Mall.

Published

1 year ago

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October 6, 2023

By

Meesho online shopping app

Ahead of the festive season, e-commerce platform Meesho’s mega blockbuster sale is starting on Friday, October 6, 2023. The platform will provide a massive discount of up to 80 percent on different categories such as essentials, accessories, electronics, footwear, etc.

The blockbuster sale is scheduled to conclude on October 13, 2023. Notably, the Softbank backed e-commerce platform is starting its festive sale a day before Flipkart or Amazon’s festive sale goes live.  The e-commerce platform’s first mega blockbuster sale will sell more than 400 brands directly with the help of authorised partners on its digital store called Meesho Mall.

Reportedly, the platform also added over 50 lakh new customers during these sales. More than 75 percent of the demand was received from Tier-II cities, including Amravati, Aurangabad, Dehradun, Nellore, Solapur, and Warangal. The platform further claimed that they have added more than 2 lakh sellers in the past two years.

Recently, Meesho affirmed that  they have received over 10 million (approx) from its pre-festive sales during Onam, Raksha Bandhan, and Ganesh Chaturthi. The platform has more than 14 lakh sellers, selling approx 12 crore products in 30 different categories. 

In an effort to increase the seller base, the company announced the onboarding of non-GST sellers on the platform earlier this week. The GST council announced to permit the e-commerce platform to onboard sellers with turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh.

Prior to Meesho’s Mega Blockbuster Sale, the company introduced a loyalty programme during which eligible users will earn Smart Coins, which the user can redeem every time they make the purchase of any products on the platform. 

As per Redseer, over 140 million shoppers are likely to make purchases during the festive season. This will enhance the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of the Indian e-commerce sector by 18 to 20 per cent and may touch Rs 90,000 crore as compared to Rs 76,000 crore last year.

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Phones & gadgets

Apple launches iPhone 15 series, India price, features, availability  

The iPhone 15 series will be available in India from September 22 but iPhone lovers can also pre-order, starting from September 15 onwards.

Published

1 year ago

on

September 13, 2023

By

Apple launched its most anticipated iPhone 15 series, including the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max during the Wonderlust event globally on September 12 night.

The iPhone 15 series will be available in India from September 22 but iPhone lovers can also pre-order, starting from September 15 onwards.

People can buy a new iPhone 15 or upgrade it to the old one. There are five colours available for the people.  

According to reports, Apple has been manufacturing the iPhone 15 series in India and China. Apple has moved 7% of its iPhone production to India. Previously, India was not making the newest models. The Centre’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for smartphones played a part in Apple moving its production to India.

The new iPhone 15 has been launched with the same starting price as its prototype, the iPhone 14. The 128GB variant is priced at Rs 79,900, while the 256GB variant costs Rs 89,900. For people who need more storage, the 512GB variant is available for Rs 1,09,900.

This latest iPhone series puffs a 6.1-inch display and comes in five different colours which are pink, yellow, green, blue, and black. While the design remains the same as the previous models, the iPhone 15 features a dynamic island notch instead of the usual notch, which was highly popular among the iPhone 14 Pro phones.

The camera part of the iPhone series has undergone significant upgrades, the new iPhone 15, with an enhanced 48-megapixel primary sensor replaces the 12-megapixel dual camera system which was available in the previous iPhone 14. This significant improvement promises better low-light photography and portrait shots.

The tech giant announced that the iPhone 15 has an all-day battery life, making it more convenient for users to go about their daily activities without worrying about their phone’s battery.

The iPhone 15 Pro models feature a lighter body and thinner bezels. The new AirPods Pro with USB-C charging case will support Lossless Audio with Apple Vision Pro.

Additionally, the iPhone 15 is powered by Apple’s A16 bionic processor, an upgrade from the A15 bionic chipset used in the previous iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus models. The Pro models had the faster and better A16 chip, but now this feature is available in all iPhone 15 models.

The USB-C port on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus remain limited to lightning speeds up to 480 Mbps. The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max support USB 3 speeds up to 10 Gbps. People will need to buy a separate 1-meter Thunderbolt 4 Pro cable for Rs 5,724 or Rs 10,701 for the 1.8-meter cable to support faster speeds.

The dynamic island notch feature, which can adjust its size according to notifications, was widely discussed before the launch of the iPhone 15. This unique feature can now be available in all models of the phone.

Another important feature of the iPhone 15 is the shift to the USB Type C charging port. Apple has abandoned the lightning port in favour of the more commonly used USB Type C charging port. This means, there is no longer a need for a special iPhone charging cable to be carried around everywhere you go.

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