Science and Technology
SpaceX Rocket Lifts Off with World’s First All Electric Satellites
World’s first electric satellites were successfully lifted off by a Space Exploration (SpaceX) Technologies rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, United States on 1 March. The rocket was carrying two all-electric commercial satellites built by Boeing. The satellites are owned by the French satellite provider Eutelsat and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS).
NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Completed Its Orbit Around Dwarf Planet Ceres
NASA’s Dawn space probe has on 6 March completed its orbit around dwarf planet Ceres which is the largest object in the Solar System between Mars and Jupiter. With the completion of orbit, Dawn probe has become first spacecraft to visit dwarf planet. Dawn has taken 7.5 years to reach the orbit of Ceres.
‘ Solar Impulse – 2’ Begins Its Journey Around the World
‘ Solar Impulse – 2’, a solar-powered airplane, started its historic 35,000-km round-the-world journey from Abu Dhabi on 9 March 2015. Solar Impulse-2 took off from Abu Dhabi on its 5-month long journey in which it will skip from continent to continent, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the process. Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard are the two pilots of this mission.
Pakistan Successfully Tests Indigenous Drone Burraq and Barq
Pakistan on 13 March successfully tested its first indigenously built all-weather armed drone named Burraq and a laser guided missile named Barq.By successfully testing of Burraq, Pakistan became the 9th country in the World to develop an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) domestically.
ISRO successfully Launched Fourth Navigation Satellite ‘ IRNSS 1D ‘
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on 28 March 2015 successfully launched fourth navigation satellite Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) 1D. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C27 injected IRNSS 1D into the designated orbit from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. This was the 28th consecutive successful flight of PSLV. IRNSS is a navigation system that will cover India, and also extend 1,500 kms from its boundaries. It will provide accurate position information to users in India. Basically it will provide two kinds of services, Standard Positioning Services, which is available to all users, and an encrypted service that is provided only to authorized users.