NASA astronaut Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station on Oct. 7, 2015. Sharing with his social media followers, Kelly wrote, “The daily morning dose of #aurora to help wake you up. #GoodMorning from @Space_Station! #YearInSpace”
Image Credit: NASA
Source….www.nasa.gov
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A $US150-billion contraption floating 270 miles above Earth is one of the most impressive achievements of humankind.
It’s called the International Space Station (ISS), and a rotating astronaut crew has occupied it since 2000. The work of those astronauts has yielded some incredible scientific insights.
Astronaut is not a profession where you get to go home at the end of the day though. One ticket from Earth to the ISS costs about $US70 million, so normally each crew lives and works on the station for a six-month shift.
Right now NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are in the middle of a year-long shift aboard the ISS. They will be the first humans to spend a consecutive year living in space.
But what is it like to actually live on the ISS?
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That includes everything from dirty wash water, water from astronauts’ breath, and yes, even urine is recycled. It’s all sent through this high-tech water filter on board.
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One wrong move and an astronaut could just float off into the vacuum of space (like George Clooney in ‘Gravity’). They also have to watch for leaks in the spacesuits that protect them from the bitterly cold temperatures and radiation in space.
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London’s Heathrow Airport is one of the busiest hubs in the world and serves as a major connecting point for traffic between Asia and Africa with North America.
As Britain’s main international airport, Heathrow has been working hard to upgrade its facilities. In recent years, the airport has opened two brand new terminal buildings and have conducted significant renovations to others.
However, the greatest constraint on the airport has been it’s lack of runways. Although more than 72 million passengers pass through Heathrow every year, the facility still operates using just two runways.
However, if Heathrow’s latest expansion plans are approved, things are about to change for airport.
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Heathrow development came just in time for the arrival of the jet set! Along with celebrities such as The Beatles and …
Flickr/Tony Hisgett
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source….BENJAMIN ZHANG in http://www.businessinsider .com.au
Natarajan
Airports are exciting places of activity, but at times they also can be overwhelming for some fliers.
Mumbai airport is possibly the first in the country to employ animals that would help ease travellers’ anxieties about returning to the skies. Earlier, therapy dogs were used to comfort special children and traumatised adults at US airports after the 9/11 attacks.
Their mission is to put a smile on every passenger’s face they interact with.
Of course, not everyone is a dog lover. Some people would feel less stressed at an airport if they could cuddle with a cat.
But, let’s admit it, passengers will now have a PAWSitive experience at the Mumbai airport! 🐾
News Source: Hindustan Times
Source….Shuvro Ghoshal …www.storypick.com
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| The Icon A-5 is a whole new aviation concept. It is designed to be a personal airplane aimed at the domestic leisure market – and people don’t need to be experienced pilots to fly it. The A-5 intends to simplify the flying process so much that anyone can pick up the skills necessary to fly the plane quickly and easily, and it has a whole stack of sophisticated safety features to help it achieve this goal. The aircraft has been in development since 2008 and is moving towards general release, having passed through the first of the necessary regulatory checks. Let’s have a look at this incredible concept and see a video of the A-5 in action.
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After months of intense training and a white-knuckled trip through the ozone layer at nine times the speed of a rifle bullet, you can bet that NASA astronauts need to bank some rest.
Space sailors log really long hours throughout their days on tasks that require intense concentration, which is why NASA schedules precisely 8.5 hours of sleep per 24 on deck.
The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at 17,150 miles per hour, clocking one lap around our planet every hour and a half. Doing the math, this means 16 sunsets every 24 hours — a new day every 90 minutes.
Fascinating, yes, but this unrelenting motion can create colossal jet lag and wreak havoc on an astronaut’s internal body clock.
Hence, Mission Control’s strict bedtime schedule and windows-shut policy.
(Though according to one report, snoozing astronauts still see streaks and bursts of bright color caused by high-energy cosmic rays bursting harmlessly onto their retinas.)
To establish to a regular schedule in zero gravity, Mission Control keeps our diurnal astronauts on Greenwich Mean Time.
The crew members are provided sleep pods that look like padded broom closets. They have custom sleeping sacks fastened to a wall or the ceiling, lest they float about the cabin.
According to retired astronaut Marsha Ivins, who spent 42 days in space on five different missions, their sleeping bag has armholes that allow you to reach outside the bag to zip it up. You then settle yourself in by tightening the attached Velcro straps. If you don’t tuck your appendages into the bag, they’ll drift out in front of you.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield offers this video tour of his very own sleep sack aboard the ISS. After showing off his astro-PJs you can watch him zip up and close the doors to his pod.
That’s a whole other issue. Though not everyone wants or needs one, Ivins says she did, to help her neck relax. She actually attached her head to a block of foam.
“You put the back of your head on [the ‘pillow’],” she says, “and then you Velcro the front of your head to it.”
Actually there was one reported case of … drifting.
According to a British reporter, one Russian crew member apparently preferred to do without a sleep pod or sleeping bag. His fellow crewmembers, still awake after he turned in, saw him float by — presumably in the midst of sweet dreams. They watched him “bouncing off the walls, his course set by the air currents that gently pushed and pulled him.”
No. As hard as they try to get comfy, most astronauts don’t get enough rest. Many are routinely sleep deficient, logging just six hours of sleep every 24 hours.
However, some astronauts speculate that these short sleep sessions may be the result of the body’s feeling less fatigued in a microgravity environment. Less fatigue may equal less sleep need.
According to dream studies conducted aboard the Russian space shuttle Mir, astronauts experience significantly diminished REM sleep in space compared to us Earthlings. They are therefore continually monitored for any and all ill effects.
“Efforts are planned to understand more fully the spaceflight environment and the role that other factors may play in reducing or promoting sleep,” said Lauren Leveton, PhD, senior research scientist in NASA’s Behavioral Health and Performance Division.
During the 30-year space shuttle program, which ended in 2011, it was a NASA tradition to have wake-up calls during the shuttle missions. Each “morning” at the scheduled wake-up time, ground operations broadcast a song into the space shuttle cabin. A wide range of musical styles were played, including rock, pop, western and classical.
Each song was selected for a particular astronaut. Sometimes the astronauts requested the tune; other times their families selected a song with special meaning.
Unfortunately, the wake-up service is not available on the ISS. There, the crew must use a regular alarm clock.
Source….www.businessinsider.com.au
Natarajan
The aviation industry is always looking for new ways to get more people into their planes and judging by a new patent filing, Airbus is proposing a pretty radical idea.
The manufacturer of the world’s largest commercial jet, the A380, just filed a patent in Europe for a number of wacky looking seating configurations on its aircraft, creating the potential to jam even more people into planes.
In the patent filing, the company says “in modern means of transport, in particular in aircraft, it is very important from an economic point of view to make optimum use of the available space. Passenger cabins are therefore fitted with as many rows of passenger seats as possible, which are positioned with as little space between them as possible.”
Amongst the range of new configurations is a business class cabin with a mezzanine level.
Passengers on the upper level would have to climb steps to reach their seats. Seats in this configuration would recline flat, allowing passengers to enjoy an airborne version of being in a bunkbed.
Another design shows two passengers seated on a mezzanine, face to face, something which business travellers looking to get work done might find particularly helpful!
The patents may be designed to save space but Airbus was also keen to stress that the new seats will provide a “high level of comfort for the passengers using the seat arrangement.”
It also said that the seat configurations could be used on trains and buses. One bonus that might come from such cramped conditions is that air fares could get cheaper.
But no matter how unpleasant these planes might look, it seems unlikely that the designs will ever come into use.
Airbus is well known for filing hundreds of patents per year in order to protect its intellectual property and ensure that competitors like Boeing cannot get the upper hand.
Recent patents filed by the company include a jet that could travel across the Atlantic in only one hour.
Source….Will Martin….www.businessinsider.com.au
Natarajan
From the environment-friendly Chandigarh airport to the modern Delhi metro, from extraordinary solar projects to stellar freeways and tunnels, here is a list of 14 engineering marvels in India that have set a benchmark for other infrastructure projects to follow.
India has a great heritage in architecture and design. And, since independence, the country has made major advances in engineering too. Be it a tunnel in the treacherous mountains or the amazing metros that connect lakhs of commuters everyday, our talented countrymen have designed and executed some amazing projects that deserve to be recognized and applauded.
Here are 14 amazing infrastructural projects in India that make us super proud.
Cochin airport created news when it became India’s first airport to run on solar power in August 2015. The airport has photovoltaic (PV) panels laid across 45 acres near the cargo complex. The airport can avail 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day through these panels which is sufficient for all its functions. This has technically made the airport “absolutely power neutral.” The implementation of this 12MWp solar power project cost Rs. 62 crore and took six months to complete. It has been set up by Bosch Ltd., Bangalore, and has a capacity to produce 18 million units of power annually. Read more about it here.
The recently constructed Chandigarh international airport at Mohali is the first airport in the country that is ‘totally green’. Spread over 53,000 sq. m, the airport has used environment-friendly green technologies that makes it one-of-its-kind, not only in India, but also in the world. The airport is constructed in a way that no artificial lights would be required to illuminate it during the daytime. It also has a transparent façade with low heat-gain glass which reduces the need for a large amount of air conditioning. The rooftop of the terminal has a 200KW solar plant which is enough to meet the major power needs of the building. Forty percent of the airport is illuminated with LEDs and the air-conditioning is fired by chiller efficient machines. Here’s more about the airport.
Starting with the first metro being built in Kolkata in 1984, metros have become lifelines in some of the major cities in India. The Delhi metro started its operations in 2002 and is one of the most disabled-friendly public places in the country, with all stations equipped with ramps, low level control panels in the lifts, and buttons in Braille. With 208 trains serving 140 metro stations, it is the first metro rail and rail-based system in the world to get “carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Named one of the top 100 strategic global infrastructure projects at the Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum held in New York, the Hyderabad Metro Rail project will be the the world’s largest project under public-private partnership. It is also the world’s largest elevated metro and is expected to provide transportation to over 1.7 million commuters by 2017.
Located at Diken in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh (MP), it is Asia’s largest solar power plant. This 151 (DC)-megawatt solar photovoltaic power project by Welspun Energy, India’s largest private solar project developers, is set up on an 800-acre site. The plant will address the power needs of 6.24 lakh homes in MP on completion.
The expressway which connects New Delhi with Agra is India’s longest motorway. This 165 kilometer, six-lane expressway was opened in 2012 and has dramatically reduced the travel time between the two cities; it now takes only a little over two hours to get from Delhi to the Taj Mahal. The project was featured in the list of world’s top 100 innovative infrastructure projects, prepared by KPMG.
This group of solar parks constructed in Gujarat makes the state Asia’s largest solar park hub. Spread across 5,000 acres, with a capacity of 500 MW, the park can generate both solar and wind energy. Operational since 2013, it hosts 19 different projects by different developers, including Alex Astral, US-based Sun Edison, Lanco Solar, Roha Dyechem, and GMR .
The Indira Gandhi International Airport was ranked the world’s best airport in handling 25-40 million passengers per annum category by ACI 2014 and is South Asia’s largest aviation hub. The recently constructed T3 Terminal has added to the glory of IGAI. The terminal has a capacity to host 34 million passengers annually and is the 24th largest building in the world. Not only this, it also has India’s first automated parking management and guidance system in a seven-level car parking area which can accommodate 4,300 cars.
Mumbai’s T2 terminal, with a four-storey building and a capacity to handle 40 million passengers annually, is also nothing short of extraordinary. It also has the country’s largest airport escalator at 11.6 meters. The car parking can accommodate 5,200 cars and the steel used to build the roof of the terminal is enough to construct two Eiffel Towers.
Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is an under-construction central business district between Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar that will be a major financial hub. The Rs. 600,000 crore project will host corporate and regional offices of companies, a trade centre, housing colonies, and a centre for the domestic financial sector. It is expected to create over 10 lakh new jobs in 10 years. Organizations like International Monetary Fund (IMF) and agencies of United Nations are expected to open offices here. GIFT city is designed to be eco-friendly – it will use an energy-efficient district cooling system instead of air-conditioning.
The Bus Rapid Transit System of Ahmedabad is a planned commuting system with reduced emissions and improved air quality. It is also referred to as a model urban transport system. Started as a pilot project over a distance of 12.5 kms, it now covers 51 kms. Around 22 percent of commuters who used two wheelers earlier have now started using BRTS. The project ran free of cost for the first three months of operation.
Another BRTS service which is worth mentioning is Indore’s BRTS which has been built on the pattern of Ahmedabad BRTS. This project too offered free rides to the commuters in the initial phase. The project has 16 buses that operate on 10 lines. The buses have a frequency of every 15 minutes on every stop. Smart cards are used for fare collection.
India’s second largest flyover, Mumbai’s Eastern Freeway, is an amazing piece of engineering and design. It connects P D’Mello Road in South Mumbai to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) at Ghatkopar. The 16.8 km long freeway became operational in June 2013 and is believed to support over 25,000 vehicles daily. Commuters can enter the flyover from eight points. Also, the flyover has enabled commuters to enjoy the 20 minutes road journey from CST to Chembur.
The tunnel that connects Bichleri Valley of Banihal with Qazigund area of Kashmir Valley is India’s longest railway tunnel. It is also the second longest tunnel in Asia. The tunnel, which became operational in June 2013, is 11 kms long and is located in the Pir Panjal mountain range. The ambitious and difficult project took seven years to complete with the hard work of 150 engineers and 1,300 workers. The USP of the tunnel is the use of the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) of construction. The project cost was around Rs. 1,700 crore.
Yamuna river’s sad state is not news. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has come up with a solution to keep the river clean by implementing the Interceptor sewage system on three major drains – Najafgarh, Supplementary and Shahadra drains. This Rs. 1,357 crore project diverts the sewage to treatment plants so that the river’s water can be used for other purposes like horticulture and cleaning. The system captures sewage from the 1,600 unauthorized colonies through 600 mm to 2,400 mm wide pipes.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) Petro additions Limited’s (OPaL) mega petrochemical complex at Dahej will be used to manufacture polymers along with products like detergent bottles, milk jugs, water pipes, etc. It will also export products to countries like China, Singapore, Turkey, Africa, Pakistan, etc. The construction of the project was started in 2009 and it was expected to be ready by 2013, but was delayed. The officials claim that the plant was mechanically completed by April 2015 and one of the units commissioned in June. Other units of the plant will also be commissioned soon. The entire plant is expected to start operations by end of 2015.
Gujarat’s canal-top solar project covers a 5.5 km section of the Narmada canal with a photovoltaic grid. This 10 MW solar project is one of its kind in the world. Located at Chandrasan village near Mehsana, the plant is designed to generate 1.6 million units of electricity per year along with preventing water from evaporation. The project will eliminate the need of land solar projects and is expected to save two billion litres of water annually. Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited will build the plant and maintain it for 25 years.
Spread over an area of 37 acres, it is the second largest bus station in Asia and is also accredited with the ISO 9001:2000 quality certification for its efficient management and functioning. Opened in 2002, this terminus has the capacity to handle 2,000 buses and 200,000 passengers daily. The bus station has 64 CCTV cameras and a ‘child-friendly’ centre for lost kids. The huge parking lot can accommodate over 2,500 two and four wheelers.
Source….Shreya Pareek….www.thebetterindia.com
A team of students from Indian Institute of Science bagged a coveted award at the Student Design Competition conducted by American Helicopter Society International. This is what the students had designed.
This August, four students from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, won the ‘Best New Entry – Graduate’ award at the Student Design Competition conducted annually by the American Helicopter Society International.
The eco-friendly aspect of the challenge was that the helicopter should function at a noise level lower than a prescribed limit, with minimal carbon footprint. Team Lakshya, of aerospace engineering department of IISc, came up with two solutions:
Both the vehicles partly derive power from their blades, thus reducing carbon footprint as compared to helicopters which are fully powered by fossil fuels.
The technology behind using energy from blade vibrations has been developed by the Non Linear Multifunctional Composites Analysis and Design (NMCAD) laboratory of the department of aerospace engineering in IISc. The institute is in the process of getting the technology patented. The team behind the development of this technology was crowned ultimate champion at the 4th edition of UNESCO-Airbus biennial innovation challenge, “Fly Your Ideas (FYI)” at Hamburg, Germany, in June this year.
American Helicopter Society organizes the Student Design Competition in association with other major helicopter companies, and this was the 32nd edition of the competition.
“The AHS International annual Student Design Competition challenges students to design a vertical lift aircraft that meets specified requirements, provides a practical exercise for engineering students at colleges and universities around the world and promotes student interest in vertical flight technology,” says that society’s website.
Every year, the organizers choose an open design problem and students have to submit their entries. The jury has academic and well as industry experts.
“It is indeed a proud moment and a wonderful experience to be recognised by the world’s most renowned vertical flight society,” said Rajnish Mallick, a doctoral graduate from IISc, who led Team Lakshya, to The Hindu.
Source…. Tanaya Singh….www.thebetterindia.com
Natarajan
This mission will study astronomical phenomena, puts India in select group of nations
Astrosat is compared to NASA’s Hubble telescope. Photograph: ISRO
The Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday successfully launched the Astrosat satellite. Through this launch, India has joined a select group of countries that have their own space observatory satellite.
Here are five things you need to know about Astrosat.
But experts say it is not right to call Astrosat India’s Hubble, as the NASA version is 10 times heavier than Astrosat and is said to cost $2.5 billion, while India’s satellite costs around Rs 180 crore.
Source….www.rediff.com
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