Latest news with #fractions
United News of India
a day ago
- Science
- United News of India
NISAR's 12- metre antenna reflector successfully unfurled in space
Chennai, August 16 (UNI) Seventeen days after the launch of world's costliest Earth observation satellite NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar ( NISAR), its 12- metre antenna reflector was successfully unfurled in orbit on August 15 when India was celebrating its Independence Day, said Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) part of USA's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said. On August 15, small explosive bolts that held the reflector assembly in place were fired, enabling the antenna to begin a process called the 'bloom', its unfurling by the release of tension stored in its flexible frame while stowed like an umbrella. Subsequent activation of motors and cables then pulled the antenna into its final, locked position, JPL said. The drum shaped antenna reflector spanning 39 feet or 12 metres is an essential piece of science hardware in NISAR was unfurled in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Weighing about 142 pounds (64 kilograms), the reflector features a cylindrical frame made of 123 composite struts and a gold-plated wire mesh. On August 9, the satellite's boom, which had been tucked close to its main body, started unfolding one joint at a time until it was fully extended about four days later. The reflector assembly is mounted at the end of the boom. The reflector had been stowed, umbrella-like, until the 30-foot (9-meter) boom that supports it could be deployed and locked in place, JPL said on August 15. Launched by ISRO on July 30 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India's southeastern coast, NISAR will track the motion of ice sheets and glaciers, the deformation of land due to earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides, and changes in forest and wetland ecosystems down to fractions of an inch. It also will aid decision-makers in fields as diverse as disaster response, infrastructure monitoring, and agriculture. 'The successful deployment of NISAR's reflector marks a significant milestone in the capabilities of the satellite,' said Karen St. Germain, Director, Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 'From innovative technology to research and modeling to delivering science to help inform decisions, the data NISAR is poised to gather will have a major impact on how global communities and stakeholders improve infrastructure, prepare for and recover from natural disasters, and maintain food security,' Karen added. The mission carries the most sophisticated radar systems ever launched as part of a NASA mission. In a first, the satellite combines two synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems: an L-band system that can see through clouds and forest canopy, and an S-band system that can see through clouds as well but is more sensitive to light vegetation and moisture in snow. The reflector plays a key role for both systems, which is why the successful deployment of the hardware is such a significant milestone, JPL said. 'This is the largest antenna reflector ever deployed for a NASA mission, and we were of course eager to see the deployment go well. It's a critical part of the NISAR Earth science mission and has taken years to design, develop, and test to be ready for this big day,' said Phil Barela, NISAR Project Manager at JPL in Southern California, which managed the US portion of the mission and provided one of the two radar systems aboard NISAR. 'Now that we've launched, we are focusing on fine-tuning it to begin delivering transformative science by late fall of this year,' Barela added. To image Earth's surface down to pixels about 30 feet (10 meters) across, the reflector was designed with a diameter about as wide as a school bus is long. Using SAR processing, NISAR's reflector simulates a traditional radar antenna that for the mission's L-band instrument would have to be 12 miles (19 kilometers) long to achieve the same resolution. 'Synthetic aperture radar, in principle, works like the lens of a camera, which focuses light to make a sharp image. The size of the lens, called the aperture, determines the sharpness of the image,' said Paul Rosen, NISAR's Project Scientist at JPL. 'Without SAR, spaceborne radars could generate data, but the resolution would be too rough to be useful. With SAR, NISAR will be able to generate high-resolution imagery. Using special interferometric techniques that compare images over time, NISAR enables researchers and data users to create 3D movies of changes happening on Earth's surface,' Rosen said. The NISAR satellite is the culmination of decades of space-based radar development at JPL. Starting in the in the 1970s, JPL managed the first Earth-observing SAR satellite, Seasat, which launched in 1978, as well as Magellan, which used SAR to map the cloud-shrouded surface of Venus in the 1990s. The NISAR mission is a partnership between NASA and ISRO spanning years of technical and programmatic collaboration. The successful launch and deployment of NISAR builds upon a strong heritage of cooperation between the US and India in space. Indian rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-F16 (GSLV-F6) on July 30 orbited the NISAR. The data produced by NISAR's two radar systems, one provided by NASA and one by ISRO, will be a testament to what can be achieved when countries unite around a shared vision of innovation and discovery. The ISRO Space Applications Centre provided the mission's S-band SAR. The U R Rao Satellite Centre provided the spacecraft bus. Launch services were through Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) Satish Dhawan Space Centre. After launch, key operations, including boom and radar antenna reflector deployment, are being executed and monitored by the ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network's global system of ground stations. Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL leads the US component of the project. In addition to the L-band SAR, reflector, and boom, JPL also provided the high-rate communication subsystem for science data, a solid-state data recorder, and payload data subsystem. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the Near Space Network, which receives NISAR's L-band data. The spacecraft is built around ISRO's I-3K Structure. It carries two major Payloads viz., L & S- Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). The S-band Radar system, data handling & high- speed downlink system, the spacecraft and the launch system are developed by ISRO. The L-band Radar system, high speed downlink system, the Solid-State Recorder, GPS receiver, the 9m Boom hoisting the 12m reflector are delivered by NASA. Further, ISRO takes care of the satellite commanding and operations and NASA will provide the orbit maneuver plan and Radar operations plan. NISAR mission will be aided with ground station support of both ISRO and NASA for downloading of the acquired images, which after the necessary processing will be disseminated to the user community. The data acquired through S-band and L-band SAR from a single platform will help the scientists to understand the changes happening to Planet Earth. Built at a cost of about $1.5 billion, the 2,400 kg NISAR's mission life will be five years. UNI VJ AAB
NDTV
a day ago
- Science
- NDTV
NASA-ISRO's $1.3 Billion Satellite NISAR Deploys Its Antenna In Orbit
In a landmark moment for global Earth science and international space collaboration, the world's most expensive civilian Earth imaging satellite-the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)-has successfully deployed its massive radar antenna in orbit, marking a critical step toward delivering life-saving data to communities across the globe. If the mission progresses on track by the next Monsoon, India will have a great new watchtower in space that can help predict landslides, glacier lake outburst, and combined with weather data even help assess likely cloud bursts, all of these have been dogging the mountains of India in recent times. It is for this reason the NISAR satellite is called a life saving mission. The world has never seen a watch tower like this before and hence disaster managers are hoping all goes well for this hugely important mission. The 12m radar antenna reflector of #NISAR is now fully 'bloom' 🌸 Congratulations to @NASA JPL & @isro on this tremendous milestone! The systematic deployment—driven by multiple motor actuators & intricate cabling—faced many challenges. Some of the challenges involved were… — Dr. S Somanath (@SomanathSpeak) August 16, 2025 Launched on July 30, 2025, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India's south -eastern coast, NISAR is a joint mission between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The satellite lifted off aboard India's GSLV-F16 rocket, a powerful vehicle powered by an indigenous cryogenic engine-a technology once denied to India but now a symbol of its space prowess. Weighing over 2.8 tons and costing $1.3 billion, NISAR is the most expensive Earth observation satellite ever built. Its mission: to track minute changes in Earth's surface-down to fractions of an inch-caused by earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier movements, and forest degradation. The data it collects will be vital for disaster preparedness, infrastructure monitoring, and climate resilience. "The successful deployment of NISAR's reflector marks a significant milestone in the capabilities of the satellite," said Karen St. Germain, director, Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "From innovative technology to research and modeling to delivering science to help inform decisions, the data NISAR is poised to gather will have a major impact on how global communities and stakeholders improve infrastructure, prepare for and recover from natural disasters, and maintain food security," Germain said. A Technological Marvel Seventeen days after launch, on August 15, the satellite's 12-meter radar antenna reflector unfurled in orbit. This drum-shaped reflector, made of gold-plated wire mesh and supported by a 9-meter boom, is the largest ever deployed for a NASA mission in low Earth orbit. It directs microwave pulses from NISAR's dual radar systems-L-band from NASA and S-band from ISRO-toward Earth and receives the return signals, enabling high-resolution imaging even through clouds, vegetation, and rain. The unfurling process, dubbed the "bloom," involved the release of tension stored in the reflector's flexible frame, followed by motorized activation that locked the antenna into its final position. This milestone sets the stage for science operations to begin by late October 2025. A Mission to Protect and Inform "This is a first-of-its-kind, jewel radar satellite that will change the way we study our home planet and better predict a natural disaster before it strikes," said Nicky Fox, NASA's Science Mission Chief. NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator Casey Swails added, "It really shows the world what our two nations can do. But more so than that, it really is a pathfinder for relationship building". The satellite will revisit nearly every part of Earth's land and ice surfaces every 12 days, enabling scientists to create 3D time-lapse maps of surface changes. These insights will help forecasters and first responders stay ahead of floods, landslides, and other disasters, and aid decision-makers in agriculture, urban planning, and environmental conservation. India's Role: From Launchpad to Leadership India's contribution to the mission is not just symbolic-it's strategic. The GSLV-F16 rocket, which carried NISAR into orbit, represents India's growing capability in launching heavy payloads. The rocket's cryogenic engine, once a point of geopolitical tension, now powered mission that benefit the entire planet. "Congratulations India!" tweeted India's Minister of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh after the successful launch. "The mission will benefit the entire world community". ISRO's S-band radar complements NASA's L-band system, allowing NISAR to detect changes in vegetation, moisture, and snow with unprecedented sensitivity. Together, they form a powerful tool for monitoring Earth's dynamic systems. What's Next? With the antenna now deployed, the NISAR team will begin calibrating the radar systems and preparing for full-scale science operations. The satellite is expected to start delivering data by October 2025, with applications ranging from tracking glacier melt in Antarctica to monitoring groundwater depletion in India. As Wendy Edelstein, NISAR's Deputy Project Manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, noted, "NISAR is a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ISRO. It represents the largest collaboration of its kind and a model for future missions". In a world increasingly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters, NISAR stands as a beacon of hope-an orbiting sentinel powered by international cooperation, cutting-edge technology, and a shared commitment to saving lives.
Associated Press
31-01-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
POET Engaged by Global Financial Services Leader to Develop Custom Optical Engine
TORONTO, Jan. 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- POET Technologies Inc. ('POET' or the 'Company') (TSX Venture: PTK; NASDAQ: POET), a leader in the design and implementation of highly-integrated optical engines and light sources for Artificial Intelligence networks, announces that it has signed an agreement to develop a novel optical engine for use in a high-frequency securities trading operation for a global capital markets firm. High-frequency trading ('HFT') is a type of automated trading that uses powerful computers to execute a large number of trades in fractions of a second. The multi-phase project is a pioneering effort to increase the speed and decrease the latency inherent in current transceiver solutions utilized by securities trading operations. The first phase of the project will begin immediately with POET designing prototypes of POET Optical Interposer–based transceiver engines built to meet the customer's specification. Subsequent phases include building additional prototypes and, if successful, production optical engines customized for this application. 'We are delighted to have embarked on this ambitious project with a global leader in HFT,' commented Raju Kankipati, Chief Revenue Officer of POET. 'This project generates revenue for POET this year and demonstrates the versatility of the POET Optical Interposer and the entry into a new, related market space by the Company.' About POET Technologies Inc. POET is a design and development company offering high-speed optical modules, optical engines and light source products to the artificial intelligence systems market and to hyperscale data centers. POET's photonic integration solutions are based on the POET Optical Interposer™, a novel, patented platform that allows the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single chip using advanced wafer-level semiconductor manufacturing techniques. POET's Optical Interposer-based products are lower cost, consume less power than comparable products, are smaller in size and are readily scalable to high production volumes. In addition to providing high-speed (800G, 1.6T and above) optical engines and optical modules for AI clusters and hyperscale data centers, POET has designed and produced novel light source products for chip-to-chip data communication within and between AI servers, the next frontier for solving bandwidth and latency problems in AI systems. POET's Optical Interposer platform also solves device integration challenges in 5G networks, machine-to-machine communication, self-contained 'Edge' computing applications and sensing applications, such as LIDAR systems for autonomous vehicles. POET is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with operations in Allentown, PA, Shenzhen, China, and Singapore. More information about POET is available on our website at Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains 'forward-looking information' (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws) and 'forward-looking statements' (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such statements or information are identified with words such as 'anticipate', 'believe', 'expect', 'plan', 'intend', 'potential', 'estimate', 'propose', 'project', 'outlook', 'foresee' or similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding any potential outcome. Such statements include the Company's expectations with respect to the success of the Company's product development efforts, the performance of its products, operations, meeting revenue targets, and the expectation of continued success in the financing efforts, the capability, functionality, performance and cost of the Company's technology as well as the market acceptance, inclusion and timing of the Company's technology in current and future products and expectations regarding its successful development of high-frequency trading solutions and its penetration of the Artificial Intelligence hardware markets. Such forward-looking information or statements are based on a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions which may cause actual results or other expectations to differ materially from those anticipated and which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the completion of its development efforts with its securities trading partner, the ability to build working prototypes to the customer's specifications, and the size, future growth and needs of Artificial Intelligence network suppliers. Actual results could differ materially due to a number of factors, including, without limitation, the failure to produce working prototypes on time and within budget, the failure of Artificial Intelligence networks to continue to grow as expected, the failure of the Company's products to meet performance requirements for AI and datacom networks, operational risks in the completion of the Company's projects, the ability of the Company to generate sales for its products, and the ability of its customers to deploy systems that incorporate the Company's products. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information or statements are reasonable, prospective investors in the Company's securities should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because the Company can provide no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release are as of the date of this news release and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise this forward-looking information and statements except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Saba Yemen
29-01-2025
- Science
- Saba Yemen
Astronomers reveal mysterious space waves secrets
London-Saba: Astronomers have been able to detect strange radiation waves coming from space that resemble the sounds of birds chirping, shedding light on a mysterious phenomenon that is decades old and may affect satellites. Media reports today, Tuesday, stated that these strange waves of space radiation, known as "Chorus Waves", will last for only a few fractions of a second with a distinctive increasing frequency, and were first detected in the 1960s. It is known that they originate from a distance of about 100,000 km from Earth, consistent with the magnetic field of our planet, and are believed to play a major role in the formation of the aurora borealis. When these waves were converted into audio signals, scientists discovered that they resemble the sounds of birds chirping. Scientists are working hard to better understand this phenomenon, as it is known that these waves accelerate electrons in space, turning them into "killer electrons" capable of destroying satellites. However, the origin of these waves and the mechanism of their formation have remained a mystery until now. It was previously believed that these waves are formed in specific areas along the Earth's magnetic field, extending to about 51,000 km above the surface of our planet. Scientists believed that these waves are formed only in places where the Earth's magnetic field is characterized by its dipole shape, but the new discovery revealed similar waves that last for a tenth of a second at a distinctive high frequency rate and come from further places, where the magnetic field is distorted, which opens up horizons for understanding the generation and propagation of these waves in space. According to the scientists, these waves may be formed as a result of the interaction of high-energy electrons in space. They wrote in the research paper: "Thermal electrons act as an energy source for these waves," but they indicated the need for more research to understand exactly how they are formed. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
