Category: Tech

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will execute the first of multiple test flights ahead of its first manned mission to space, Gaganyaan from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on October 21. The test involves launching the module to outer space and bringing it back to earth and recovering it after touchdown in the Bay of Bengal.

The test is intended to test the crew module or the part of the vehicle where the Indian astronauts will be housed. ISRO will launch an empty module before bringing it safely back to Earth.

“The success of this test flight will set the stage for the remaining qualification tests and unmanned missions, leading to the first Gaganyaan mission with Indian Astronauts,” ISRO said in a statement on October 6.

The test Crew Module (CM) will be similar to the pressurised module that will hold crew members during their ascent to space, but this version will be unpressurised. This CM will be launched via a single-stage liquid rocket specifically developed for this mission that will simulate an abort scenario.

On the other hand, the real CM will be carried on a 143-foot-tall (43.5-meter) Launch Vehicle Mark-3 rocket with a solid stage, liquid stage and cryogenic stage.

The test module will have other components, such as drogue parachutes designed to stabilise and slow the spacecraft during reentry and recovery aid actuation systems, and a Crew Escape System and CM Fairing and Interface Adapters to help assess the emergency escape system used to eject astronauts if required.

On October 14, as parts of the world will plunge into partial darkness during the annular solar eclipse, NASA will send rockets flying into the shadow of the eclipse. Under its mission, Atmospheric Perturbations around the Eclipse Path (APEP), the US space agency will launch three rockets to learn how the sudden drop in sunlight affects Earth’s upper atmosphere.

On Saturday, the people living near the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico will see sudden bright streaks from the three NASA rockets racing towards the Sun when its brightness will dim to only a bright “ring of fire.”

During a total solar eclipse in 2017, many instruments in North America, even those located hundreds of kilometres outside the path of the eclipse, detected atmospheric changes. The eclipse also impacted important infrastructure such as GPS and communication satellites. The impact made it crucial to understand and model any disturbances to the ionosphere and what effect they can have.

The APEP mission will launch three rockets—the first will be launched about 35 minutes before the peak eclipse, one during the peak, and the third about 35 minutes later. Each rocket will deploy four small scientific instruments that will measure density, temperature, and changes in electric and magnetic fields.

The project is spearheaded by Aroh Barjatya, an engineering physics professor of Indian origin at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

ISRO on October 6 shared pictures showing how plastic is shredded and mixed to make roads at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota.

The Indian space agency said that the Department of Space (DoS) is actively contributing to the Swachhata Campaign by implementing best practices. “Plastic waste is being sustainably utilised for the resurfacing of roads at SDSC-SHAR, Sriharikota, the Spaceport of India,” ISRO posted.

Under the Union Government’s ‘Waste to Wealth’ mission and its mission of constructing environmentally sustainable national highways, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is also testing the use of steel slag, a by-product of steel making, in road construction. Steel sag comes after fly ash, waste plastic and phosphor-gypsum to be used for building national highways.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in March, this initiative will help address the challenge of shortage of material used in development of the national highways, and could replace natural aggregates such as sand, gravel, or crushed stone with waste materials.

Studies have established that roads built using plastic waste are durable, sustainable and increase the life of the bitumen. Construction of one kilometre of four-lane highway helps in disposal of approximately seven tonnes of plastic waste, the Ministry said.

A school team from Vadodara, Gujarat has bagged the bronze medal in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) 2023 national championship.  The team of Hriday Parikh and Shreyans Bohora will now represent India at the international championship in Panama. Along with their coach, the 15-year-old boys made a robot, which can solve ocean traffic problems in 85 seconds. 

The team that was contesting in the senior high age (15-19 years) was given the challenge to create a versatile robot that can help load and unload ships, fuel them and pilot them to open sea – a robot to solve ocean traffic problems.The school team, named Spero Hertz, from Navrachana School, Sama, and their coach Mukesh Bind, made the robot that can solve the challenge in 85 seconds.

Hriday Parikh had previously won the national championship in 2016 and 2018, as well as an international championship in 2019.

The WRO comprises three levels — the regional level that was held in September in Greater Noida, and the international level that is scheduled between November 7 and 9 at Panama City, Panama. After qualifying at regional level, the young robotics prodigies secured their place on the national stage. The WRO national-level competition was hosted by India STEM Foundation at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida.

The US has imposed its first-ever fine of $150,000 on the TV company, Dish, for improper satellite disposal. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), responsible for authorising space-based telecom services, handed down the penalty on October 2. Dish had failed to correctly deorbit its satellite, EchoStar-7, which had been in orbit since 2002.

As the geostationary satellite reached the end of its operational lifespan, Dish deviated from the agreed-upon altitude, raising concerns about orbital debris. In 2012, Dish had committed to raising the satellite to an altitude of 300 kilometers (190 miles) above its operational arc. However, due to dwindling fuel reserves, the satellite was retired at an altitude slightly above 120 kilometers above the original arc.

The settlement includes Dish acknowledging liability, agreeing to adhere to a compliance plan, and paying the $150,000 penalty. This move marks a landmark moment in the FCC’s efforts to address space debris issues as it intensifies its satellite policy initiatives.

Meanwhile, the US aviation regulator, the FAA, has expressed its intention to mitigate space debris by mandating that private companies dispose of upper stages of rocket launch vehicles. This could involve methods such as returning them to Earth’s atmosphere or relocating them to less congested ‘graveyard orbits.’

The European Space Agency estimates that there are approximately one million pieces of debris larger than a centimeter in Earth’s orbit, posing a threat to spacecraft. These space debris incidents have already caused problems, from a near-miss involving a Chinese satellite in January to a five-millimeter hole punctured in the robotic arm of the International Space Station in 2021.

JPMorgan’s Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has said that artificial intelligence (AI) has the ability to make dramatic improvements in workers’ lives. In a recent interview, Dimon expressed optimism that AI holds the potential to advance cancer treatment and could lead to a workweek as short as 3.5 days for the next generation.

A staunch advocate of AI, Dimon believes it is indispensable to his company’s success. He previously highlighted its multifaceted utility, including its capacity to drive innovation, enhance customer engagement, boost productivity, and bolster risk management within the firm.

He emphasised that AI is not just a concept but a tangible, transformative force that is widely adopted and has the capability to replace certain human tasks.

While acknowledging AI’s darker potentials, such as misuse by malicious actors, Dimon remained steadfast in his belief that the emerging technology’s job displacement should be viewed in the context of historical technological progress.

A team led by Northwestern University researchers has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) that can intelligently design robots from scratch.

To test the new AI, the researchers of the Illinois, US, based university asked the system to design a robot that can walk across a flat surface. The new algorithm accomplished the task at lightning speed by designing a successfully walking robot in mere seconds.

The AI program is not only fast, but also runs on a lightweight personal computer and designs completely new structures from scratch. This makes the algorithm different from other AI systems, which often require high energy consuming supercomputers and enormously large datasets. Despite such impressive inputs, those systems only mimic humans’ past works without an ability to generate new ideas.

The computer started with a block about the size of a bar of soap, which could jiggle but not walk. The AI then quickly iterated on the design, and with each iteration, assessed its design, found flaws, and worked at the simulated block to update its structure. Eventually, the simulated robot was developed and could bounce in place, hop forward and shuffle. After just nine attempts, the technology generated a robot that could walk half its body length per second and at about half the speed of an average human pace.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal on October 3.

Optimus, the humanoid robot of US multinational automotive and clean energy company Tesla, can perform a variety of tasks such as yoga and sorting blocks by colour independently.

In a video shared by the company, the robot demonstrated its ability to sort objects fast and with ease like a human. When intervened by a human in the task, Optimus rapidly adapted to the change and went on to complete the task.

The robot can also perform yoga poses. The poses require standing on one leg and extending its limbs, to display its balance and flexibility. As per the video, Optimus is now capable of self-calibrating its arms and legs. It can also precisely locate its limbs in space using vision and joint position encoders.

The video was shared by the official Tesla Optimus account on X on September 24. The video also reveals that TeslaBot is now running on the same end-to-end neural network as the Tesla cars, which can process video input and generate control output. Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacted to the video with one word, “Progress.”

The New York Police Department (NYPD) will deploy a robot to patrol the city’s subways. At 5 feet tall and 400 pounds, the Knightscope K5 Autonomous Security Robot is currently on pilot test at the Times Square subway station, working the overnight shift with a human partner.

The robot, K5 is equipped with multiple cameras and two-way communication. It is intended to deter crime and capture crimes in progress. It is equipped with a panic button that riders can use to alert patrol officers. It also has facial recognition capabilities and listening devices.

The robot began its pilot on September 22 for two weeks, to map the station at Times Square. It is accompanied by a human officer from midnight to 6 a.m. to introduce K5 to the public. There are docks where K5 can recharge, like a giant Roomba, the self-directing vacuum. Once the pilot is complete, the robot is expected to patrol the station’s mezzanine level, but not the platforms.

K5 will be accompanied by a uniformed police officer for the first two months of a pilot program-mainly to answer questions from curious riders.

Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has set a new record for being reused for the 17^th time. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched for a record-tying 17th time on September 23, when it lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:38 p.m. EDT, carrying 22 Starlink internet satellites.

The rocket’s first stage came back to Earth as planned, landing on a SpaceX drone ship at sea about 8.5 minutes after launch. With the 17th liftoff, the rocket tied the company’s reuse record, set four days earlier by a different Falcon 9 on another Starlink launch.

The 22 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage about 65 minutes after launch.

Starlink is SpaceX’s internet mega constellation, which provides service to customers around the world. It presently has more than 4,750 operational satellites. SpaceX’s parent company has received authorization to launch 12,000 broadband satellites and has submitted applications for an additional 30,000 satellites on top of that.