Here are today’s most important updates from the realm of Science and Space.
ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan confirmed that the government has approved the ambitious Chandrayaan-5 mission, which aims to study the Moon with a significantly heavier rover than its predecessors. The Chandrayaan-5 mission will feature a 250 kg rover, a substantial upgrade from the 25 kg 'Pragyan' rover used in the Chandrayaan-3 mission. This partnership with Japan is expected to enhance the mission's scientific capabilities. Looking ahead, ISRO plans to launch Chandrayaan-4 in 2027 to collect and return lunar samples. Additionally, ISRO is working on the Gaganyaan mission to send Indian astronauts into space and plans to establish its own space station, the Bharatiya Space Station.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured its first direct images of carbon dioxide in a planet outside the solar system in HR 8799, a multiplanet system 130 light-years away that has long been a key target for planet formation studies. The observations provide strong evidence that the system's four giant planets formed in much the same way as Jupiter and Saturn, by slowly building solid cores. HR 8799 is a young system about 30 million years old, a fraction of our solar system's 4.6 billion years. Still hot from their violent formation, HR 8799 planets emit large amounts of infrared light that give scientists valuable data on how their formation compares to that of stars or brown dwarfs.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) and the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Chandigarh have jointly developed two cutting-edge 32-bit microprocessors, Vikram 3201 and Kalpana 3201, specifically designed for space applications. Vikram 3201 is India's first fully indigenous 32-bit microprocessor qualified for use in the harsh conditions of launch vehicles. Kalpana 3201 is also a 32-bit SPARC V8 RISC microprocessor based on the IEEE 1754 Instruction Set Architecture. It is designed to be compatible with open-source software toolsets and has been tested with flight software, making it versatile for various applications. Development of these critical devices are aligned with "Make in India" initiative.
An Australian man made history by living for 100 days with an artificial titanium heart while awaiting a donor transplant. The patient, in his 40s, underwent surgery at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney in November 2024 and reportedly became the first person worldwide to leave the hospital with the device in February. The artificial heart, developed by BiVACOR, is a groundbreaking device that has shown promising results in sustaining the patient's life until a donor heart becomes available. The device is still under trial and has not yet been approved for general use. It’s constructed from titanium, and there are no valves or mechanical bearings that may be susceptible to wear. It pumps blood to the body and the lungs, replacing both ventricles of a failing heart. The artificial heart could potentially offer a long-term option for people suffering from heart failure.
