National
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launches ‘Gaganyaan year’ with XPoSat Satellite
⇒ ISRO’s PSLV-C58 has launched XPOSAT Satellite into an Eastward low inclination orbit on January 01, 2024.
- PSLV-C58 took off from the spaceport of Sriharikota carrying an X-ray polarimeter satellite and 10 other satellites. ISRO’s popular launch vehicle PSLV-C58 put the XPoSat in a precise circular orbit of 650 km after a 21-minute flight.
- It was ISRO’s first X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat), which will study X-ray polarisation and its cosmic sources such as black holes and neutron stars.
About XPoSat:
- The XPoSat is only the world’s second such mission after the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) launched by NASA in 2021.
- XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite) is the first dedicated scientific satellite from ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.
- The Satellite configuration is modified from the IMS-2 bus platform. The Configuration of the mainframe systems are derived based on the heritage of IRS satellites.
Payloads:
- It carries two payloads namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing).
Built by:
- POLIX is realized by Raman Research Institute and XSPECT is by Space Astronomy Group of URSC. The Raman Research Institute and the UR Rao Satellite Centre are both in Bengaluru.
The objectives of this mission are:
- To measure polarisation of X-rays in the energy band 8-30keV emanating from about 50 potential cosmic sources through Thomson Scattering by POLIX payload.
- To carry out long term spectral and temporal studies of cosmic X-ray sources in the energy band 0.8-15keV by XSPECT payload.
- To carry out polarisation and spectroscopic measurements of X-ray emissions from cosmic sources by POLIX and XSPECT payloads respectively in the common energy band.
Death
Noted Legal Scholar Professor, Ved Prakash Nanda
⇒ Noted legal scholar professor Ved Prakash Nanda passed away in Denver, US on 01 January 2024. He was born in 1934 in Gujranwala (now in Pakistan).
About Prof. Ved Nanda:
- An Indian-American academic, Nanda was an expert on international law and had served as Vice President of the American Society of International Law.
- Nanda received the Padma Bhushan award on 20 March 2018 in the field of literature and education. He also received a number of awards including the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award for Community Peace Building.
- He was widely published, having authored or co-authored 24 books in various fields of international law.