Stepping stone: on Shubhanshu Shukla, NASA-Axiom-ISRO tie-up
Concerns that the limitations imposed by the U.S.'s International Traffic in Arms Regulations would prevent the duo from learning much may also be laid to rest. Instead, they may be replaced by concerns about ISRO's piecemeal communication. Astronauts cut inspirational figures and appeal to all ages. As India prepares for its first human spaceflight mission, there can be no better way to build excitement than by facilitating access to India's astronauts. The lack of initiative is hard to rationalise, although it is still not too late. ISRO as well as India's soft power platform will make copious gains by expanding outreach and easing public access to the spacefarers.
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The Hindu
10 minutes ago
- The Hindu
NISAR Mission: Satellite will be placed in orbit by Indian rocket, says ISRO chief
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for a major milestone with the launch of the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission on July 30, 2025. According to Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space, the satellite will be placed in orbit by an Indian rocket. While speaking to reporters on Friday (July 25, 2025), Dr. Narayanan said, 'On the 30th of July, we are going to have the NISAR mission. The satellite will be placed in orbit by the Indian rocket...' ISRO said that it will launch the NISAR, the first joint Earth observation satellite by ISRO and NASA, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on July 30 at 5:40 p.m. Additionally, ISRO stated that the satellite would provide high-resolution, day-and-night, all-weather data by scanning the entire world every 12 days, identifying minute variations in the Earth's surface, such as vegetation dynamics, ice sheet shifts, and ground deformation. 'The mission will support many critical applications, including sea ice monitoring, ship detection, storm tracking, soil moisture changes, surface water mapping, and disaster response. A milestone in over a decade of collaboration between ISRO & NASA/JPL,' it added. According to ISRO, the NISAR satellite, weighing 2,392 kg, will be injected into a 743 km Sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98.40 degrees. Equipped with dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar—NASA's L-band and ISRO's S-band—NISAR features a 12-metre unfurlable mesh reflector antenna integrated into ISRO's modified I3K satellite bus. Utilising SweepSAR technology for the first time, the satellite will offer a 242 km swath with high spatial resolution, enabling comprehensive Earth observation. 'NISAR, weighing 2392 kg, is a unique Earth observation satellite and the first satellite to observe the Earth with a dual-frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (NASA's L-band and ISRO's S-band), both using NASA's 12m unfurlable mesh reflector antenna, integrated to ISRO's modified I3K satellite bus. NISAR will observe Earth with a swath of 242 km and high spatial resolution, using SweepSAR technology for the first time,' ISRO stated in a press release. NISAR's ability to provide high-resolution, all-weather data every 12 days will support critical applications, from tracking climate change impacts to aiding disaster management. 'The satellite will scan the entire globe and provide all weather, day and night data at 12-day intervals and enable a wide range of applications. NISAR can detect even small changes in the Earth's surface, such as ground deformation, ice sheet movement and vegetation dynamics. Further applications include sea ice classification, ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterisation, changes in soil moisture, mapping & monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response,' the release added.
United News of India
an hour ago
- United News of India
Indian scientists decode rhythms of a Black Hole: A discovery with AstroSat
Chennai, July 26 (UNI) ISRO today said India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, AstroSat, has been continuously monitoring the enigmatic black hole--the universe's most enigmatic powerhouses--since its launch in September 2015 and was providing invaluable insights into source's behaviour. A group of Indian scientists from University of Haifa, IIT Guwahati, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) observed that the X-ray brightness from GRS 1915+105 fluctuates dramatically over time", it said. This research deepens our understanding of black holes also also highlights India's growing role in space-based astronomy. Black holes, the universe's most enigmatic powerhouses, cannot be seen directly, but their immense gravity reveals their presence. Born from the collapse of massive stars that exhaust their fuel, these cosmic voids are invisible because not even light can escape their grasp. However, a black hole in a binary system with a companion star, triggers a dramatic process known as accretion, pulling in stellar material that spirals inward and heats up to over 10 million degrees (far hotter than the Sun's surface temperature of 6000 degrees). This 'super-heated' matter emits intense X-rays, which are captured by space telescopes, offering scientists a rare window into the otherwise hidden lives of black holes. In a distant corner of our galaxy (nearly 28000 light-years away) lies one of the most fascinating and mysterious black hole, GRS 1915+105. This intriguing black hole X-ray binary system, consisting of a rapidly rotating black hole with a mass about 12 times that of a Sun and its companion star, has captured the attention of scientists due to its unusual and dynamic behaviour. ISRO also depicted a schematic diagram of the complex accretion process around GRS 1915+105, forming a swirling disc (1-10 million degree) and corona (∼100 million degree) structure. "India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, AstroSat, has been continuously monitoring the enigmatic black hole GRS 1915+105 since its launch (September 2015) and provides invaluable insights into source's behaviour. Using two of its onboard instruments, namely Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) and Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT), a group of Indian scientists from University of Haifa, IIT Guwahati, Indian Space Research Organization observed that the X-ray brightness from GRS 1915+105 fluctuates dramatically over time", it said. It exhibits a unique pattern of alternating low-brightness ('dips') and high-brightness ('non-dips') phases, each lasting a few hundred seconds. During the high-brightness phase, the team discovered something remarkable: rapid flickers in X-rays repeating about 70 times per second, known as Quasi-periodic Oscillations (QPOs). Interestingly, such 'fast' flickers vanish during the low-brightness phases. Explaining on what causes these mysterious 'fast' flickers', the research team uncovered that these rapid QPOs are intimately connected to a 'super-heated' cloud of energetic plasma surrounding the black hole, known as corona. During the bright high-energy phases when QPOs are strongest, the corona becomes more compact (smaller in size, R_(in) ) and significantly hotter (higher luminosity, L). Conversely, in the dimmer 'dip' phases, the corona expands (larger R_(in) ) and cools (smaller L), causing the flickers to vanish. This pattern suggests that the compact oscillating corona seems to be the origin of these fast QPO signals. These findings help scientists understand what happens in the vicinity of a black hole, where gravity is incredibly strong and conditions are extreme. Indeed, GRS 1915+105 acts as cosmic laboratory, and with AstroSat's remarkable contributions, Indian scientists are decoding the 'whispers' of this black hole. This work have been published in the prestigious journal, Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society co-authored by Anuj Nandi (ISRO), Santabrata Das (IIT Guwahati), Sreehari H. (Haifa University) and Seshadri Majumder (IIT Guwahati). Overall, this research not only deepens our understanding of black holes but also highlights India's growing role in space-based astronomy. UNI GV 1030
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
ISRO shares new findings on black hole
BENGALURU: A team of scientists and researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Friday listed out their unique findings while studying the Black Hole as part of their noted that the X-ray brightness from the fascinating and mysterious black hole, GRS 1915+105, fluctuates dramatically over time. It exhibits a unique pattern of alternating low-brightness ('dips') and high-brightness ('non-dips') phases, each lasting a few hundred seconds. During the high-brightness phase, the team discovered that the rapid flickers in X-rays were repeating about 70 times per second, known as Quasi-periodic Oscillations (QPOs). Interestingly, such 'fast' flickers vanish during the low-brightness phase, noted the researchers Anju Nandi from ISRO, Santabrata Das from IIT- Guwahati, Sreehari H from Hafiza University and Seshadri Majumder from IIT Guwahati. India's first dedicated multi-wavelength space observatory, AstroSat, has been continuously monitoring the black hole GRS 1915+105 since its launch in September 2015 and is working to provide insights into the source's behaviour. The research team stated that they found that these rapid QPOs are intimately connected to a super-heated cloud of energetic plasma surrounding the black hole, known as the corona. During the bright, high-energy phases when QPOs are strongest, the corona becomes more compact and significantly hotter with higher luminosity. Conversely, in the dimmer dip phases, the corona expands and cools, causing the flickers to vanish. This pattern suggests that the compact oscillating corona seems to be the origin of these fast QPO signals. This research work titled- Evidence of oscillating 'compact' Comptonised corona in GRS 1915+105: insights into HFQPOs with AstroSat- was also published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, on July 4, 2025. ISRO shared the details on July 25. The research team noted that these findings will help scientists understand what happens in the vicinity of a black hole, where gravity is incredibly strong and conditions are extreme.
