MANGALYAAN 1st STAGE SUCCESS

In a major milestone in India's space history, ISRO's Mars Orbiter mission today ventured out of Earth's sphere of influence, beginning its 300-day journey to the Red planet. The critical manoeuvre to place the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft or 'Mangalyaan' in the Mars Transfer Trajectory was successfully carried out almost an hour past midnight and marked the first step it its 680 million-kilometre-long voyage to its destination. "Following the completion of this manoeuvre, the Earth orbiting phase of the spacecraft ended. The spacecraft is now on a course to encounter Mars after a journey of about 10 months around the Sun," the Bangalore-headquartered Indian Space Research Organisation said in a statement. During this manoeuvre, which began at 00:49 hours, the spacecraft's 440 Newton liquid engine was fired for about 22 minutes providing a velocity increment of 648 metres/second to the spacecraft. ISRO performed the trans-Mars injection, a "crucial event" intended for hurling its Mars Orbiter spacecraft into the planned orbit around the Sun. It has planned four mid-course corrections in case of any deviation along its path to the Martian orbit before its expected arrival in the orbit of the Red planet in September 2014. It had performed five orbit-raising manoeuvres on its Mars Orbiter, raising the apogee (farthest point from Earth) of the spacecraft to over 1.92 lakh kilometres, before it performed the "mother of all slingshots." The spacecraft is being continuously monitored from the Spacecraft Control Centre at ISRO Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) in Bangalore with support from Indian Deep Space Network (IDSN) antennae at Byalalu here, the space agency added. ISRO's PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter (Mars craft) into the orbit around the earth some 44 minutes after a text book launch at 2.38 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota on November 5, marking the successful completion of the first stage of the Rs 450-crore mission.

Comments

SINGER MANNA DEY IS NO MORE

Legendary playback singer Manna Dey, who mesmerised generations of listeners with his inimitable voice for over five decades with hits like 'ay mere pyara watan', 'laaga chunri me daag' and 'poocho na kaise', died at a hospital here today at the age of 94 after prolonged illness. Dey, who was in and out of Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in the last five months for respiratory and renal problems, died of cardiac arrest with his daughter Shumita Deb and son-in-law Jnanranjan Deb by his bedside when the end came at 3.50 AM. The condition of Dey, who had made Bangalore his home for the last many years, deteriorated since yesterday afternoon, hospital spokesman Vasuki said. With the demise of Dey, the void has become complete in the famous quartet of singers Rafi, Mukesh, and Kishore Kumar, who dominated the Hindi music industry from 1950s to 1970s. The mortal remains of Dey, whose unique voice lent a rare dimension to his persona, were cremate...

WILL NIFTY FALL BELOW 2000?

Correlating the ups and down in the Indian rupee with the stock market, Vijay Bhambwani, CEO, bsplindia.com, suggests that if the rupee continues with its downward fall, the Indian stock market may fall breach October lows and fall further. “If the rupee falls below the 53.0-53.50 mark vis-a-vis the USD, expect a mini meltdown atleast in the equity markets. In that case, the 2250 level (on Nifty) will be breached easily to form a new low. The possibility of that low being below the 2000 levels on the Nifty spot is fairly high,” he says. Bhambwani supports his outlook by comparing the value of rupee at the time of October lows. “The October 2008 lows were made with the INR at 51.20 - 51.40 band. The rupee has breached the 52 level since then. Clearly the nation’s ‘share price’ (currency) indicates weakness. The curency market is a far more accurate barometer of the nation’s health compared to the equity indices. Whether you like it or not, we are under siege. Had it not been March (NAV ...

WORLD'S OLDEST WOMAN

Misao Okawa celebrates her 115th birthday in Osaka, western Japan on March 5, 2013. Okawa was formally recognized as the world's oldest woman.

ప్రపంచం తీరూ తెన్నూ

Search This Blog