Tag Archives: NASA
Why Titan is awesome #11
Titaaaaan! Here we go again. 😄 As has been reported, NASA has been interested in sending a robotic submarine to Saturn’s moon Titan to explore the hydrocarbon lakes near its north pole. Various dates have been mentioned and in all it seems … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged borescope, Cassini, effervescence, ethane, gaseous nitrogen, hydrocarbons, Kraken Mare, Ligeia Mare, methane, NASA, nitrogen, nucleation, Saturn, Titan, Titan Submarine, Washington State University
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ISRO v. SpaceX doesn’t make sense
Though I’ve never met the guy, I don’t hold Pallava Bagla in very high regard because his stories – particularly of the Indian space programme – for NDTV have often reeked of simplistic concerns, pettiness and, increasingly of late, a … Continue reading
Posted in Life notes, Op-eds, Science
Tagged Antrix, Arianespace, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, K Sivan, NASA, NDTV, PSLV, reusable launch vehicle, SpaceX
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The significance of Cassini’s end
Many generations of physicists, astronomers and astrobiologists are going to be fascinated by Saturn because of Cassini. I wrote this on The Wire on September 15. I lied. Truth is, I don’t care about Saturn. In fact, I’m fascinated with Cassini because of Saturn. We all … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cassini, Hubble, NASA, Saturn
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The bad, avoidable and useless forms of journalism
Bad journalism: A Hindustan Times report on March 2 claims a high-schooler from West Bengal won a “prestigious” scholarship sponsored by NASA to study at Oxford University, having been selected on the back of a theory she had developed on … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged archiving, fact-checking, hoaxes, journalism, NASA
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Summing up the ‘water on Mars’ announcement
I wrote an explainer summing up (almost) all we know about the recent NASA announcement of finding water on Mars for the Mumbai Mirror. An excerpt: Some time in its past, a fifth of the Martian surface was thought to be … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mumbai Mirror, NASA, recurring slope lineae
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Space is necessarily multifarious, ISRO
Here’s a great example of why space-exploration is a multifarious industry where it takes excellence on multiple fronts at the same time to make each mission a success, even on seemingly unrelated fronts. The example also shows the pride of financial … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ASTROSAT, Mars, Mars Orbiter Mission, NASA
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Defending my review of ‘The Martian’
I wrote my first movie review for The Martian and I wonder if I’ve done it some disservice, although I think it is defensible (from myself, not anyone else). In a wonderful interview of Salman Rushdie published in Mint recently, the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Andy Weir, Drew Goddard, film review, Mars, Matt Damon, NASA, Ridley Scott, Sean Bean, The Martian
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The Planetary Society says humans orbiting Mars is important before they land on it
A notional timeline for the 2033 mission was presented also, with crewed test-flights in cislunar orbits being planned for 2025 and 2027. The launch window provides a suitable focus year because NASA hopes to have tested the necessary spaceflight technologies and experience through its ARM in the 2020s. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ames Research Center, Apollo 8, Asteroid Retrieval Mission, human spaceflight, Humans Orbiting Mars, launch windows, manned Mars missions, NASA, Planetary Society, SpaceX Mars Colonial Transporter
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NASA readies to test history’s largest, most powerful booster for its new rocket
NASA’s massive heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, which will one day ferry humans to deep-space destinations and back, has become notorious for the scale of engineering backing it. In September 2014, agency administrator Charles Bolden had unveiled the world’s largest … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Ares rocket, Charles Bolden, Constellation Program, deep-space exploration, Delta IV, NASA, Orbital ATK, Orion crew capsule, Saturn V, Space Launch System, Space Shuttle program
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