India wrests its space
With major scientific achievements and many more notable projects in the pipeline, India has been making remarkable progress in the field
Astrosat
The country’s first astronomy satellite was launched in September 2015, and has five instruments on board. The aim of Astrosat is to observe all kinds of objects together in the sky, such as stars, galaxies and clusters in large wavelengths to understand what is happening around regions that are very hot, with strong gravitation and undergoing strong acceleration processes, which produce X-rays.
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in India (LIGO-India) is most likely to be housed in Maharashtra. The estimated ͌1,260-crore Indian detector has the geographical advantage of forming a triangulate with the existing two US detectors that will help locate the source of the event that caused the gravitational wave.
The Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii
India is a 10% partner and will co-own and build components for the largest optical and infrared astronomical observatory. Construction of the US$1.4 billon TMT that is slated to begin mid-2018 will provide information about the early stages of evolution of the universe, finer details of undiscovered planets, objects in the solar system and planets around other stars.
Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), Germany
With its contribution of ͌270 crore, India is building high technology equipment for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR), Germany, for which construction work has begun.
Chandrayaan 2
Isro will send second unmanned mission to the moon, Chandrayaan 2, in March 2018. Weighing 3,250kg, Chandrayaan
2 will investigate the moon for water-ice, water molecules, minerals and other elements, in addition to understanding the geology of lunar surface.
Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MoM 2) or Mangalyaan 2
The Indian government approved the second mission to Mars (MoM 2) in its budget this year. Isro is likely to place the lander on the planet in 2021-2022.
Aditya L1
In 2020, Isro will launch its first mission to study various aspects of the sun and space-weather. Scientists said Aditya L1, at a cost of approximately ͌400 crore, will be the only third full scale solar observatory after the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and Solar Dynamics Observatory. Square Kilometre Array (SKA)
Construction on SKA is scheduled to begin in mid-2018. India as a full member of SKA organisation will be co-own the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope.