You have inspired us; let us explore solar system together: NASA to ISRO

Agencies
September 8, 2019

Washington, Sept 8: NASA has lauded India's historic Chandrayaan-2 mission, saying the Indian Space Research Organisation's attempt to soft-land Vikram module on the lunar South Pole has "inspired" it and the US space agency is looking forward to explore the solar system with its Indian counterpart.

The Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) plan to soft-land Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on the uncharted South Pole did not go as per script on Saturday, with the lander losing communication with ground stations during its final descent.

"Space is hard. We commend ISRO's attempt to land their Chandrayaan 2 mission on the Moon's South Pole. You have inspired us with your journey and look forward to future opportunities to explore our solar system together," NASA said in a tweet on Saturday.

Former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger told PTI on Saturday that the lessons learnt from India's "bold attempt" to soft land Chandrayaan-2's Vikram module on the lunar surface will help the country during its follow up missions.

"We should not be too discouraged. India was trying to do something very, very difficult. In fact, everything was going as planned as the lander came down," Linenger said.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched on July 22 by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III).

The spacecraft began its journey towards the moon, leaving the earth's orbit on August 14 after a crucial manoeuvre called Trans Lunar Insertion or TLI that was carried out by ISRO to place the spacecraft on "lunar transfer trajectory".

According to NASA, only half of the lunar missions involving landing on moon surface have succeeded in the last six decades.

There have been a total of 109 lunar missions from 1958, out of which 61 were successful, says the US space agency's 'Moon Fact Sheet'.

As many as 46 missions involved landing on the lunar surface, including landing of the rover and sample return. Out of these, 21 were successful, while two were partially successful.

Sample return means mission that involves collecting and returning samples to earth. The first successful sample return mission was Apollo 12 of the US launched in November 1969.

From 1958 to 1979, only the US and the USSR (now Russia) launched Moon missions. In these 21 years, the two countries launched 90 missions. There was a lull in the decade that followed with no lunar missions from 1980-89.

Japan, the European Union, China, India and Israel have been late entrants.

The first lunar soft landing and first pictures from the lunar surface came from Luna 9, launched by the USSR in January 1966.

The Apollo 11 mission was the landmark mission through which humans first stepped on the lunar surface. The three-crew mission was headed by Neil Armstrong.

From 2009-2019, ten missions have been launched of which five have been sent by China, three by the US, and one each by India and Israel.

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News Network
November 3,2024

Mangaluru, Nov 3: A quiet morning turned perilous for a farmer in Elathur, near Kinnigoli on the outskirts of the city, as a leopard attacked him while he was cutting grass. 

Ligori, a resident of Kalkare, was startled by the sudden assault and suffered injuries to his face but managed to escape and reach safety. He was promptly taken to the hospital for medical care.

Residents in Elathur have been on edge for over a week following reports of leopard sightings in the area. Today’s incident has heightened concerns among the local farming community, who now fear for their safety.

With a significant population of farmers in the region, villagers are demanding immediate action from the forest department to capture the leopard and ensure their safety. 

The community awaits a response, hoping for swift intervention to prevent further attacks.

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News Network
November 10,2024

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The media office in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli regime has been waging a genocidal war since last October, says as many as 188 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the onset of the brutal military onslaught.

The office provided the figure on Saturday, naming four journalists as the most recent victims of the onslaught.

It identified the foursome as Zahraa Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Ahmad Mohammad Abu Sukheil, Mustafa Khadr Bahar, and Abdel Rahman Khadr Bahar.

The office said it “strongly condemns the targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation and holds it fully responsible for committing this heinous crime.”

“We call on the international community, international organizations, and those involved in journalistic work worldwide to take action against the occupation, pursue it in international courts for its ongoing crimes, and pressure it to halt the genocide and the targeted killings of Palestinian journalists,” it said.

Earlier in the day, the office said the Israeli regime had bombed the tents sheltering journalists and displaced persons at the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza for the ninth consecutive time.

The atrocity that claimed the lives of two people and injured 26 others came as part of “the genocidal crimes committed by the Israeli occupation army against hospitals, civilians, and displaced persons,” it said.

The media office held the regime and the United States, its biggest ally, as well as other countries aiding the genocide fully responsible for such systematic crimes.

At least 43,552 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and 102,765 others wounded since the launch of the war that followed a retaliatory operation by Gaza’s resistance groups.

The fatalities include 44 people, who were killed across the coastal sliver, in the most recent phase of the military onslaught.

As many as 24 of the victims were killed in the northern part of the territory, where the regime has markedly intensified its deadly attacks for weeks.

They included an eight-year-old child and a five-year-old one, who lost their lives after Israeli warplanes targeted a group of minors filling up jerry cans with water alongside their mother at the Jabalia Refugee camp.

Gaza’s heath ministry, meanwhile, said a number of victims remained under the rubble and in the streets following Israeli airstrikes, saying ambulances and civil defense teams could not reach them due to the sheer extent of the destruction caused by the raids and obstruction caused by the regime.

Also on Saturday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, a United Nations-backed assessment, warned that famine was looming in northern Gaza amid escalated Israeli aggression and the regime’s near-total siege of the targeted areas.

The alert from the Famine Review Committee warned of "an imminent and substantial likelihood of famine occurring, due to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip."

On October 17, the body projected that the number of people in Gaza facing "catastrophic" food insecurity between November and April 2025 would reach 345,000, or 16 percent of the population.

The IPC report classified that figure as Phase 5 -- a situation when "starvation, death, destitution, and extremely critical acute malnutrition levels are evident."

The Israeli military, however, questioned the report's credibility.

"To date, all assessments by the IPC have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the ground," the army said in a statement, denouncing "partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests."

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News Network
November 7,2024

Udupi, Nov 7: In a tragic turn of events, a young woman, Prasanna, aged 29, allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday, struggling to cope with the demands of work and motherhood after the birth of her daughter, according to police reports.

Prasanna had married on December 2, 2022, and was the mother of a 10-month-old baby girl. Her husband works in Bengaluru, while she lived with her in-laws, who, according to her family, treated her kindly.

In a complaint, Prasanna's mother revealed that her daughter often called her, expressing deep concerns over her readiness for motherhood. Despite receiving supportive care from her family, Prasanna felt unprepared and overwhelmed by the balance of work and home life that early motherhood required.

Her family shared that she had been undergoing treatment, but between 10 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, she allegedly took her own life at her husband’s residence. The Karkala Rural Police Station has registered a case and is conducting further investigations.

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