NSS - Mumbai Blogs

Long March 10 rocket  Can you think of a reusable rocket?  Starship? Yes, that’s the right answer, but I am not talking about Starship. We have something newer and more interesting in this blog that has become the talk of the town i.e. China’s reusable rockets. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) plans to launch their first-ever reusable rockets in 2025 and 2026.  The rockets, unspecified by CASC, consist of a 13-foot (4-meter) diameter model and a 16-foot (5-meter) diameter variant. The larger rocket could potentially be a version of the proposed Long March 10, a launch vehicle measuring 302 feet (92 meters) in length, with the capability to transport 27 tons into translunar orbit. Background on China's Space  Program Now, let's delve into China's journey towards achieving a fully reusable rocket. Originally intended as a disposable rocket, the Long March 9, has evolved into China's super heavy-lift rocket, capable of launching 150 tonnes t...

  In the vast expanse of the cosmos, the moon has captivated humanity with its enigmatic allure. India, among many nations, has embarked on a remarkable journey of lunar exploration, with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at the forefront. Today, as we witness the successful launch of Chandrayaan 3, let us delve into its significance and celebrate India's triumph in pushing the boundaries of space exploration. The Objectives of Chandrayaan 3: Chandrayaan 3 represents a significant milestone in India's ambitious lunar exploration program, aimed at achieving scientific and technological breakthroughs. But what sets this mission apart is the remarkable story behind its existence. A Tale of Resilience: Let us take a moment to reflect on the challenges faced during the previous Chandrayaan missions. In September 2019, Chandrayaan 2's lander, Vikram, and the Pragyan rover came agonizingly close to landing successfully on the lunar surface. Despite facing a setback, th...

  Ingenuity Helicopter | Credit: NASA Can you guess the name of the first drone that flew to the other planet? If you are thinking of the Perseverance Mission, you are going in the right direction. It is an Ingenuity helicopter developed by NASA.  Let’s explore how this helicopter and its partner explorer, the Perseverance Rover, achieved something that was almost impossible. Making the impossible happen Ingenuity is nestled up sideways under the belly of Perseverance rover | Credit: NASA Ingenuity, the Martian Helicopter, is a technological demonstration that aims to test powered, controlled flight on an alien planet for the first time. On the Perseverance rover, it was transported to Mars. The Ingenuity was deployed to the surface once the rover had found a suitable "airfield" location so it could conduct several test flights over a 30-day testing period on Mars. Rovers have been sent to another planet earlier as well, but the ingenuity helicopter is the first of it...

Do you know there are stars in the universe that are racing through the sky at a staggering high speed that is in the order of 1000 km/second? This speed is 10 or more times the speed of normal stars that move at 100 km/second. The Milky Way galaxy's fastest hypervelocity star, US 708, runs at the speed of 1200 km/second while an ordinary star like our sun has the speed of only 200 km/second. "But how is this possible?" "Which mechanism causes such a massive body to move at this high speed?" What Is A Runway Star?  A runaway star is a star that is moving through interstellar space at tremendously high speed. We know these stars for several decades but we are still unable to find out the reason for their exceptional speed. In 2005, astronomers found that these stars travel so fast that even the gravity of the galaxy can not stop them . In an attempt to calculate its orbit, they realized that it had come from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The star was...

  "Does life really exist beyond Earth?"      Illustration of the interior of Saturn's moon Enceladus showing a global liquid water ocean between its rocky core and icy crust. The thickness of the layers shown here is not to scale.   Credit: ESA       Search for life on other planets has always been one of the most intriguing yet important parts of space exploration. But this time it is not on a planet but on a moon. Saturn's moon Enceladus has been hiding a queer world of water under its cover which possesses the possibility of having a life. Of course, the nature of the species is itself mystical. It may be microorganisms, aliens, or some strange kind of species that may or may not be harmful to us.  A string of probes has been sent to Enceladus: Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Cassini. But the most prominent discoveries were made during the Cassini Mission. Let's have a look at how it all came to the fore.  Cassini and its findings  A ...

              After a tiring day with a lot of playing and climbing trees and running from his mother, the child lay down in his garden at night to get some sleep. His ritual was to count the twinkling, shiny objects in the sky and dream about visiting those once. This dream was shared by every single child in the world. The bright light which was shiny and colorful blazing in the darkness caught everyone’s eyes. Some wanted to explore the darkness, while some were determined to reveal the secrets of those blazing objects. This was the point where the seed to explore the space was sowed. We began venturing into space since October 4, 1957, when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. This happened during the period of political hostility between the Soviet Union and the United States known as the Cold War.   It is believed to have orbited Earth at a height of a...