SPACE CURRENT AFFAIRS
ISRO Drones Help Map Disasters in North-East
- Drones, generally associated with security agencies, are now being used to collect land details and add to data from remote sensing satellites.
- In this regard, the Shillong-based North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation has tested Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) on November 30, 2016 to assess several regional problems, ranging from measuring diseased paddy fields to damage caused by frequent landslides.
- Data from ISRO’s remote sensing satellites are generally combined with ground-based details. Use of drones cuts much leg work that ground surveyors must take-up.
‘Super Earth’Found Orbiting Nearby Star
- The scientists on November 22, 2016 have discovered a new ‘Super Earth’ planet with a mass around 5.4 times that of the Earth, orbiting a very bright star near to our Sun.
- The exoplanet, GJ 536 b, is not within the star’s habitable zone, but its short orbital period of 8.7 days and the luminosity of its star make it an attractive candidate for investigating its atmospheric composition.
- GJ 536, is a red dwarf which is quite cool and near to our Sun. Rocky planets are usually found in groups, especially around stars of this type, and we are pretty sure that we can find other low-mass planets in orbits further from the star, with periods from 100 days up to a few years.
- To detect rhe planet, the researchers had to measure the velocity of the star with an accuracy of the order of a metre per second.
NASA Launched ‘Next Generation’ Weather Satellite
- The NASA successfully launched for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the first in a series of highly advanced geostationary weather satellites, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on November 19, 2016.
- The launch of GOES-R represents a major step forward in terms of our ability to provide more timely and accurate information that is critical for life-saving weather forecasts and warnings.
- The GOES-R will strengthen NOAA’s ability to issue life-saving forecasts and warnings and make the United States an even stronger, more resilient weather-ready nation.
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