All set for 16th space mission
G Babu Jayakumar

CHENNAI: India’s 16th space mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, about 80 km from Chennai, is all set for lift-off before noon on Wednesday with the ‘T-51 hour’ countdown starting on Monday morning.

Once again relying on the indigenously developed Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), which is its tested workhorse, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is placing its 760 kg satellite – Oceansat-2 – in a sun-synchronous orbit, to move a notch higher in its oceanography studies.

Riding piggy-back on Oceansat- 2, six nano satellites from Europe too will start their journey to space when the PSLV C-14 blasts off with Vice-President Hamid Ansari among those expected to witness the event from the spaceport, situated in a densely wooded island on the Bay of Bengal coast with the Pulicat Lake on one side.

Not a bit bogged down by the recent fiasco of the Chandrayaan mission that failed to complete its full term or the delay in the PSLV C-14 launch – it should have happened about a year ago – ISRO’s team of scientists and engineers are putting in their best to make this mission a success.

Oceansat-2 will be just an inorbit replacement of Oceansat- 1, which was shot off from the same launch pad in Sriharikota on May 26, 1999, along with two other – a Korean and a German – satellites. The orbit of Oceansat-2 too has been fixed at 720 km, as that of its predecessor.

With Oceansat-1, an Indian Remote Sensing satellite, still working, the successor with advance features and capabilities will take over the job of identifying potential fishing zones, assisting in coastal zone studies and understanding surface temperatures and winds.

While the earlier version could look only at the colour of the ocean, the new one is a comprehensive system that will also look at surface winds and temperature, among other things.

Technically speaking, Oceansat- 2 will carry an OCM (Ocean Colour Monitor) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer and a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric studies (ROSA), developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The Scatterometer with a ground resolution cell of 50 KMs X 50 KMs will provide the wind vector range of four to 24 metres per second with better than 20 per cent accuracy in speed and 20 degree in direction. It helps getting surface wind on the sea and is required for sea state forecasting and maritime navigation..

The eight-band OCM is similar to the one in Oceansat-1 with appropriate spectral bandwidth modifications based on the experience gained.

OCM, with 360 metres spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 km, would provide a two-day repeativity.As of now, Oceansat- 2 and the other satellites – four Cubesats, each weighing a kg, from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Technical University of Berlin and University of Wurzburg, both in Germany, and Istanbul Technical University; and two Rubinsats, weighing eight kg each, from Luxembourg and Germany – have been integrated into the launch vehicle, which is ready to zoom into space.

Must say I find the whole thermo-nuke issue quite surprising….

If the 1998 thermonuclear test didn’t go as planned, why didn’t they test again? US already declared sanctions after the initial announcement. India had nothing really to lose by testing again and making sure the they sorted out whatever problems….:confused: Sanctions were lifted in 2001 and warming of relations.

Forgive me for being naive…but got me wondering

This is the point i raised if there was a problem with the TN device we could have tested it when still under sanctions.

:rolleyes: This revision 11 years later is to serve other purposes.

Water discovered on moon?: “A lot of it actually”

Divya Gandhi

BANGALORE: Speculation is rife among space scientists that the quest for water on the moon may have reached a climactic end with the discovery of “a lot of water” by an instrument on board Chandrayaan-I.

A report by the online space news portal, Space Ref, says this discovery, made by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) on board the Indian mission, will be the subject of a press conference, to be addressed by Carle Pieters, planetary geologist and principal investigator of the instrument, at the NASA headquarters on Thursday.

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an imaging spectrometer, was one of the 11 instruments on board Chandrayaan-I that came to a premature end on August 29. M3 was aimed at providing the first mineral map of the entire lunar surface.

Hinting at this exciting development, a recent report published by Nature News says: “Results soon to be published… will show detailed spectra confirming that, indeed, the polar regions of the moon are chockfull of water-altered minerals.”

Lunar scientists have for decades contended with the possibility of water repositories. They are now increasingly “confident that the decades-long debate is over,” the report says. “The moon, in fact, has water in all sorts of places; not just locked up in minerals, but scattered throughout the broken-up surface, and, potentially, in blocks or sheets of ice at depth.” The results from the NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter are also “offering a wide array of watery signals.”

http://www.hindu.com/2009/09/23/stories/2009092357770100.htm

India to launch Oceansat-2, six European nano birds Wednesday

Chennai, Sep 22 (IANS) The stage is set for the launch Wednesday of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) for placing into orbit the country’s 16th remote sensing satellite, Oceansat-2, and six European nano satellites.
“The countdown is progressing well. The launch window is between 11.51 a.m. and 12.06 p.m. tomorrow. The weather forecast is clear,” ISRO spokesman S. Satish told IANS from the Sriharikota rocket launch centre around 80 km from here.

“We don’t expect any last minute thrills or tension,” he added.

The 960 kg Oceansat-2 will be ejected into a sun-synchronous orbit 720 km above the earth and its moving coverage strip will be able to scan the entire planet.

The orbit is designed in such a way that the satellite will cross Equator at 12 noon near India.

A global leader in remote sensing data, India has so far launched 15 remote sensing satellites, of which nine are still in operation.

Oceansat-1, launched in 1999, is still in service but will slowly go into oblivion.

According to Satish, Oceansat-2 has a design life of five years and may outlive this like its earlier version.

Oceansat-2 will be used for identifying potential fishing zones, sea-state forecasting, coastal zone studies, weather forecasting and climate studies.

Apart from the ISRO-developed 76 kg Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Ku-band pencil beam Scatterometer, the satellite will also have a Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric Studies (ROSA) developed by the Italian Space Agency.

The Scatterometer, with a ground resolution of 50 km x 50 km, is expected to provide accurate information on wind speed and direction.

The eight-band OCM, with a 360-metre spatial resolution and a swath of 1,420 km, will provide information about a particular area every two days.

According to Satish, ISRO would earn an unspecified amount of dollars as the carriage fee from the European owners of the six nano satellites piggy backing on Oceansat-2.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/india-to-launch-oceansat-2-six-european-nano-birds-wednesday_100250892.html

Splitting atoms, not hairs

After a long lull, doubts have once again been expressed about the efficacy of the Indian 1998 nuclear tests. In this context, many issues have been raised: How big a deterrent should India have? Should India sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty? While many of these questions do have some relevance for Indian strategic planning, they have been linked to the success of the 1998 tests and, in particular, whether the yield of the 1998 tests were in conformity with the planned yields.

There is no confusion about the design/planned yield of the 1998 thermonuclear test: it was 45 kiloton. This has not been disputed by anybody. According to the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), the estimated yield of the test was in rough agreement with the design yield subject to the usual errors associated with such estimates. It must be stated at the outset that there is no unanimity among the Indian critics of the DAE about the yield of the tests.

P.K. Iyengar, former DAE chairman, and the only nuclear scientist among those critical of the 1998 test, does not question the DAE estimates and is on record saying, “If one goes by the numbers for the total nuclear yield put out by the Department of Atomic Energy, which I see no reason to dispute, the yield of the thermonuclear device detonated on May 11, 1998 was around 40 kilotons.”

The DAE estimates are, however, contested by some Indian non-scientists and non-nuclear scientists. Till very recently, they had relied solely on the estimates of some foreign scientists for their contention. These estimates had been contested by DAE scientists and Indian scientific journals had carried an extensive debate on the issue with both the foreign and DAE scientists presenting their case. However, none of the Indian critics of the DAE ever presented any scientific argument in support of their case.

There are a number of ways of estimating nuclear test yields. Some on-site, some off-site; some off-site estimates that require data on the geology of the test site, and some that do not. The on-site methods are a) radiochemical analysis; b) close-in ground motion; c) hydrodynamic-CORRTEX. The off-site methods are seismic estimates using a) surface wave characteristics; independent of test-site geology data; b) body wave characteristics requiring some on-site geological data and c) using Lg wave characteristics requiring some on-site geological data.

Each of the above methods has its own estimate error. In terms of accuracy, the radiochemical analysis offers the best estimates. This was the method used by the United States estimating the yield of their nuclear devices. The Hydrodynamic (CORRTEX) and ground-in motion estimates rank second in their accuracy. While negotiating on the test methodology before ratification of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty, the US had insisted on the CORRTEX system for measuring the yield of an explosion, while the Soviets had favoured seismic monitoring. Seismic methods are the least reliable, especially when only one of the seismic methods is used.

The DAE had used all of the above methods in their estimates of the yields. The foreign experts who had disagreed with the DAE had employed only one method: the seismic method using body wave, which is the most unreliable of all of the above methods.

As mentioned earlier, till very recently the Indian critics of the DAE had based their criticism solely on the estimates of foreign scientists. Only very recently, former Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientist K. Santhanam revealed that there was a disagreement between the DAE and the DRDO on the yield of the 1998 test based on one method used by both parties, namely the close-in ground motion characteristics of the test. The DRDO seemed to have used only this method for estimating the 1998 yields.

As in all experiments, the success of the effort depends much on the instruments used and the calibration of these instruments. While Santhanam is on record as stating that the DRDO’s calibrations “were acknowledged to [have met international standards] by the BARC [Bhabha Atomic Research Centre]”, it’s a matter of record that much before the tests, the DAE had strongly questioned both the sensitivity of the DRDO instruments and their calibration and these had not been agreed to by the DAE. So, it’s not surprising to find the DAE and DRDO estimates not matching each other.

However, notwithstanding the fact that the DAE had used all six methods of estimation of nuclear yields, and that the DRDO had used only one method and that too under circumstances that were questioned by the DAE before the tests, it should be possible to resolve the issue by placing all the pre-test and post-test data before a group of Indian scientists qualified to judge all elements involved — the pre-test instrumentation sensitivity and calibration methods and the post-test data and charts — to come to the relative correctness of the two estimates.

It is interesting to compare the Indian and Pakistani reaction to the foreign estimates of the yields. As was the case with India, the foreign critics estimated the Pakistani yields to be far less than what was claimed by Pakistan. However, unlike in the case of India, there has not been, so far, any response from Pakistani scientists about the foreign estimates of their test yields. The Pakistani armed forces, of course, have kept quiet all along.

G. Balachandran is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and Research Consultant, National Maritime Foundation (NMF).

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Splitting-atoms-not-hairs/H1-Article1-456942.aspx

So you agree that the US is a hypocrite, and you support that and agree that it is the right way to go even if all the US has done by its hypocrisy is to hurt Indian interests?Doesnt it bother you that after all the revelations by AQ khan the US does nothing?…and I guess those who are advocating India does not need to test want India to be closer to the “west” and would not bother if India gets hurt in the process..as long as we remain close to the “West”.Kinda reminds me of this

And what “right timing” are you talking about??Did anyone (in the establishment) say such a thing as there’s gonna be a “right time” when we will test?last time I checked the government , scientists like RC etc were saying that hey we dont need to test anymore!!

Yes the United States and all of the Nuclear Powers are hypocritical. India too was hypocritical when it voted against Iran at the UN. For India to say it do not think Iran has the right to have nuclear weapons is hypocrasy of the highest level. But that is world politics. As for India getting hurt I am not concerned when the government is confident that our TN device works and the scholarly circle confident that we have Nuclear deterrent.

Right timing merely means when the political wind is in our favour and when we have very little to lose from such a test.

And similarly others have said that the current level isnt enough..
If testing a TN (or indeed building a TN weapon) isnt in the interest of the billion Indian people then why did we have to do it the first time?Why did we have to do PoK II?What was it..just a million $$ showoff?

The people who have said current level isn’t enough are mostly scientists who only know the difference of destructive power of such weapons but do not know what level of destruction is to be deemed unacceptable for the enemy. Scholars of strategic affairs have more of an idea in that respect and they have mostly said we have CMD.

Pokhran II was done to master the fission bomb and to test the H-bomb. It is also to be noted that the time between Pokran I and Pokran II was nearly three decades.

The same credentials that RC or AK has…..since its they who were actually concerned with carrying out teh tests ,since its they who were aware of what happened ands since its also their country after all.
NSA..puhleez that fellow only parrots whats been told to him..its not as if he has some special knowledge about nuclear science.

They know nothing about strategic thinking and what any civilised country considers non-acceptable in terms of civilian casualities in a war.

what matter?you mean the nuclear bomb?And your scholarly circles have studied them in greater detail than scientists like KS or other scientists who have mad their life out of working with such technology?

This is why scientisits do not make decisions. They only know about the power of these weapons and that the TN weapon is far more powerful. They do not however realize that our nuclear doctrine do not stand for destruction of the enemy. Our nuclear weapons are to inflict unacceptable loses on an enemy in a second strike. Its basically deterrence and 20 million population and big cities wiped out are very unacceptable to anyone.

……And I thank God that those scientists had the courage to bring all of this into limelight before the final works were done..and has done a great service to this country by pre-emtively blocking (at least to some extent)the possiblilty that Mr . Mumble mumble does something under the table..

Its easy to see those “guvmint” guys have other agendas..I suspect they are on US payroll..

See your game can be played bothways..

You are talking about two governments from two parties with opposing ideologies and half of the scientific circle being in the U.S payroll chances are that the handful of this scientists who have seen the ‘light’ are under the Chinese payroll.

Whatever the government or the political parties do are in their interests..not necessarily in the interests of the country.Remember when congress did such dirty politics during Kargil Divas commemoration..?what utter disrespect to the soldiers who gave their lives for the country…is that the same political parties you are talking about?

Its a different matter whether there will be anymore tests or not but it is very clear that those tests need to be carried out…

The Nuclear tests were carried our during the BJP governments tenure. With both governments claiming its successful there is no chance for a test any time soon.

Your second statement is self contradiciting

I find your comment childish at best.

What has our test got to do with America or West , Does America or West or Russia or China come to us to discuss what is best for their national security ? they simply do what is good for them to protect their own strategic space and interest.

We do not sanction America , West or Russia if they conduct test , but they do that to us , so its their flaw not us.

We must do what is in our interest and the interest of our billion citizen.

This is a great service done by Santhanan to his country and its billion people, The Blind may now see the light.

You are talking right and wrong and that matters for very little in diplomatic policy. :rolleyes:

We do not sanction anyone because we are not in a position to sanction anyone. If one day God willing we are in the position America is now you will see how hypocritical we are. In these things timing is key we must do right things at the right time and the current policy goes well with the need of the hour.

What makes you so sure that testing a TN device (while it is still doubted whether the first test is successful or not) is in the interest of the countries billion people. Many have rightfully pointed out that the current deterrent level is enough. What credentials do Santhanam or all these rouge scientists have to talk about Minimum deterrence, I would rather believe the scholarly circles who have studied the matter in much greater detail and who are level headed.

The reason why I doubt its a move to destabilize India’s relations with the west is that they have remained silent till now (rather than some rogue noises after the test) and decided to come out in public during this time which is signified by closer co-operation with the west, signing of the nuclear deal and IAEA waivers. It is easy to see these guys have other agendas. I won’t even be surprised if some of them are on Chinese payroll, after all DRDO and BARC only pays so less. Seeing how China Opposed the IAEA waiver given to us.

Nevertheless do you believe when the current government and the two main political parties who may head future governments say that they are convinced the test is successful that there will be a change in that view which will necessitate further tests ? Do you recall that the Vajpeyee government was very close to signing the C.T.B.T.

And in the case of a third front alternative the disregard the CPM and its allies have toward nuclear tests are well documented. So who do you think is going to test. Santaclaus this coming Christmas ?

Just live with the truth my friend that there will be no nuclear tests no matter what Santhanam or whoever says. 😉