Astronomy News (January 2024) - Yashraj Sharma

Indian Space News-

PC- pencilmaker

Aditya L-1 deploys a state-of-the-art Magnetometer in the Sun's Halo orbit

On January 11, 2024, the Aditya-L1 spacecraft accomplished the successful deployment of its 6-meter-long magnetometer boom in space at Lagrange Point-1. This milestone occurred 132 days after the satellite's launch, while it was positioned in a halo orbit at Lagrange point L-1.

Chandrayaan-3 lander serves as a location marker on the South Pole of the moon 

On January 19, 2024, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced that an instrument on the lander has started serving as a "marker" near the lunar South Pole. The Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA), is being used as a fiducial point, to precisely locate the location of the lander on the Moon for reference.

India is working towards building its own space station, tests for it next year, said ISRO chief

ISRO plans to carry out tests, for the proposed 'Bhartiya Space Station', next year. Discussions are on with the manufacturers to launch its first module in the year 2028, ISRO chief, S Somanath, said on Thursday. Along with that, he announced to the media that, India's first Venus mission is also likely to be launched in 2028. "Venus mission has already been proposed once, we are looking at how to bring down costs. There are some high-value items, and we want to bring down the cost", the words of the ISRO chief.

International Space News-

Japan's explains how it made an upside-down moon landing

Japan became the fifth nation to land on the moon on Saturday, but its spacecraft ended up in an awkward and rather embarrassing position, with its engine nozzle pointed up toward space. By design, the Japanese spacecraft, known as Smart Lander for Investigating Moon or SLIM, was supposed to land on its side to avoid it tipping over on the sloping surface of the moon's landing site. "But, about 150 feet above the landing spot, one of SLIM's two engines appears to have failed", said officials at JAXA, the Japanese space agency.

Ingenuity, NASA's helicopter flying over Mars, ends its mission

The robot flew over 72 times, aiding the Perseverance rover in search of evidence that there was once life on the red planet. At least one rotor (robotic motor) broke down during the machine's most recent flight, last week, announced NASA officials on Thursday. But, Ingenuity is still in contact with its companion, the Perseverance rover, which has been exploring and excavating a dried-up river bed in search of 'extinct' Martian life. Sadly, Ingenuity will be left behind.

NASA's Perseverance rover confirms the presence of an ancient dried-up lake, that may hold clues for past life on the red planet

Evidence of ancient lake sediments was found at the base of Mars' Jerezo crater to give new hopes of finding traces of life in the samples collected by the Perseverance rover. The rover touched down on the crater on Feb. 18, 2021. Since, then, it has been on a continuous search for samples of extinct life on Mars.

Yashraj Sharma
Astronomy Club Captain

(My Good School)

This is the monthly newsletter for our Astronomy club. At the end of each month, a newsletter will be published covering all the important headlines regarding space and the universe, from India and the world.