After Chandrayaan, ISRO plans mission to the sun

[DomainK]

After the Chandrayaan-I moon odyssey, it's 'Mission Sun' for the Indian Space Research Organisation. Scientists at ISRO are in the advanced stage of designing a spacecraft, named 'Aditya', to study the outermost region of the Sun called corona. "That's a mini satellite. In fact, the design is just getting completed," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told PTI. Chandrayaan "During solar maxim...which is happening...we would like to see the type of emissions which are taking place in the Sun and how it interacts with the ionosphere and atmosphere and so on," he said. According to Dr Jayati Datta, deputy programme director, Space Science Office, ISRO, Aditya is the first space based Solar Coronagraph intended to study corona. 'Aditya' would be the first attempt by the Indian scientific community to unravel the mysteries associated with coronal heating, coronal mass ejections and the associated space weather processes and study of these would provide important information on the solar activity conditions, she said. We will have total map of the moon, says ISRO "A basic understanding of the physical processes and continuous monitoring would help in taking necessary steps towards protecting ISRO's satellites either by switching them off or putting them on a stand-by mode as warranted by the background conditions," Datta aaid. The temperature of the solar corona goes beyond a million degrees. From the Earth, corona can be seen only during total solar eclipses, mainly due to the bright solar disc and the scattering of the sunlight by the Earth's atmosphere. One has to go beyond the atmosphere to be able to mask the bright solar disc and study the corona. Chandrayaan may reveal moon mystery The space borne coronagraph 'Aditya' in would study the Coronal Mass Ejection and consequently the crucial physical parameters for space weather such as the coronal magnetic field structures, evolution of the coronal magnetic field etc, Datta said. "Completely new information on the velocity fields and their variability in the inner corona, having an important bearing on the unsolved problem of heating of the Corona, would be obtained," she explained. Activities towards 'Aditya Mission' have been initiated with the involvement of scientists from ISRO centres and prime national research institutes in the country. PM sees first pictures from Chandrayaan ISRO is planning to launch 'Aditya Mission' during the next high solar activity period. However, the exact date/time is not yet confirmed. "Aditya' is an indigenous/Indian mission. So far, there is no plan of putting any foreign payload on board Aditya mission," Datta said, adding that the United States, the European Space Agency and Japan [images] have flown missions to study Sun and solar corona/activities. The sun, which is highly turbulent and dynamic, sends out large chunks of charged particles and emits highly energetic electromagnetic radiation in all directions. These radiations, on reaching Earth, cause severe near-Earth-space disturbances called Geomagnetic storms, which affect communication links, disturb power lines in high altitudes, cause aurora in polar regions and affect satellite systems directly and also indirectly through changes brought about in the near Earth atmosphere. Source: http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/nov/11after-chandrayaan-isro-plans-mission-to-the-sun.htm

[flamy]

Whoa!

[Ram]

The Sun's activity has massive implications on Earth's weather conditions. Understand the sun's activity patterns ( the corona, the dark spots etc), will hugely help in predicting weather conditions on the Earth better. Go ISRO, every day, you make us that much prouder!

[vadodaravictor]

:yay: Great Stuff...my uncle works at ISRO and was involved in Chandrayaan....Go ISRO !:two_thumbs_up:

[THX_1138]

so when are we landing on the sun?

[CC1981]

Still wish that we focussed on more important but less 'glamorous issues' like social cohesion, jobs and betterment of lives (along with birth control) but atleast, this venture has some scientific value and isnt a total show-pony white elephant like the lunar mission.

[DomainK]

so when are we landing on the sun?

Next winter may be.....wont be so hot then. :--D

[THX_1138]

Still wish that we focussed on more important but less 'glamorous issues' like social cohesion' date=' jobs and betterment of lives (along with birth control) but atleast, this venture has some scientific value and isnt a total show-pony white elephant like the lunar mission.[/quote'] ha ha... good heavens dude! with every passing post you are transforming into a religious nutter.

[THX_1138]

The Sun's activity has massive implications on Earth's weather conditions. Understand the sun's activity patterns ( the corona, the dark spots etc), will hugely help in predicting weather conditions on the Earth better. Go ISRO, every day, you make us that much prouder!

true... solar activity can not only disrupt the earth's atmosphere but it can also cause considerable damage to global communication by interfering with communication satellites.

[CC1981]

ha ha... good heavens dude! with every passing post you are transforming into a religious nutter.

So then what is my 'religion' ? I said we should focus more on the basics, instead of high end stuff that ultimately is a very niche market. I realize that Indians have very little social empathy beyond words, but do try to see the bigger picture for a society!

[vadodaravictor]

So then what is my 'religion' ? I said we should focus more on the basics, instead of high end stuff that ultimately is a very niche market. I realize that Indians have very little social empathy beyond words, but do try to see the bigger picture for a society!

What basics..like invading countries, bailing out wall street, bailing out people with foreclosed homes ? We better spend money on scientific explorations which helps to retain talent within country. Other challenges which we have cannot be solved so easily. It does not mean that we should not invest in science & technology. And as for social empathy, its your personal experience. I have had both experiences in India just as in any other country.

[THX_1138]

What basics..like invading countries, bailing out wall street, bailing out people with foreclosed homes ? We better spend money on scientific explorations which helps to retain talent within country. Other challenges which we have cannot be solved so easily. It does not mean that we should not invest in science & technology. And as for social empathy, its your personal experience. I have had both experiences in India just as in any other country.

precisely... the thing is that this numb nuts will not understand that out of such exploratory missions have arisen numerous remarkable technologies such as (and this is not an exhaustive list by any means): Global Positioning Satellites; Inertial Gyroscopes (used in navigation of aeroplanes); Composite Materials; Thin film solar panels; Lithium Ion Batteries; Memory metals etc etc.. similarly, the internet was the product of a communication endeavor made by physicists in Japan attempting to communication with physicists in United States and was later supported by the National Science Foundation before it was eventually utilized by the Financial sector for e commerce.

[THX_1138]

:yay: Great Stuff...my uncle works at ISRO and was involved in Chandrayaan....Go ISRO !:two_thumbs_up:

sweet! say thanks to him on my behalf.

[Guest HariSampath]

What basics..like invading countries, bailing out wall street, bailing out people with foreclosed homes ? We better spend money on scientific explorations which helps to retain talent within country. Other challenges which we have cannot be solved so easily. It does not mean that we should not invest in science & technology. And as for social empathy, its your personal experience. I have had both experiences in India just as in any other country.

Yes we can. What use is technology and science when 8 million children die each year purely due to hunger ? The world dumps millions of tonnes of food into the sea, but hasnt found a way to preserve or transport it to other places where it can save lives. Did you know that world poverty is the biggest challenge today, and not what we know from the Sun or moon . Of what use is the internet, if you havent typed the word "poverty" in google and seen how most of the world lives ? 3 billion people in this world live in moderate or extreme poverty...extreme poverty is defined as $1 or less per day. In fact in India 830 million people live on 50 cents a day. Somewhere in the world , a child dies every 3.5 seconds, not due to cancer, tumor or some disease, but JUST due to hunger related/malnutrition causes, every 3.5 seconds, and thats the time it takes you to type "poverty" in Google. and there cannot be a greater indictment of humanity itself that the world at large is silent on this. You see no headlines, no news items nothing at all, but every day more than 20,000 children die of hunger...and if this is the scenario, why should any country, IMO , invest in ridiculous ventures instead of showing evolved behavior by assisting fellow humans. This is gross, ugly and obscene

[CC1981]

invest in ridiculous ventures instead of showing evolved behavior by assisting fellow humans. This is gross, ugly and obscene

Ultimately, even then there are limitations to that behaviour that doesn't factor in nature or the sustainability of it - ultimately, looking/assisting fellow human beings in a purely health,education, nutrition and basic materialistic ammenities doesnt factor in that our capabilities of expansion on this planet is finite and we are already way past the sustainability point in some areas. So assistance of fellow humans as a sole purpose on the terms you've defined 'evolution' to be ( hunger, poverty, etc) is ultimately the end cause of our societerial downfall - barring us discovering another planet to rape, kill and plunder. Perhaps we need to look at the bigger picture - whatever it is - that cannot be restricted by simply setting ideals of species expansion & individual development as the primary, inviolable objective.

[Guest HariSampath]

Ultimately, even then there are limitations to that behaviour that doesn't factor in nature or the sustainability of it - ultimately, looking/assisting fellow human beings in a purely health,education, nutrition and basic materialistic ammenities doesnt factor in that our capabilities of expansion on this planet is finite and we are already way past the sustainability point in some areas. So assistance of fellow humans as a sole purpose on the terms you've defined 'evolution' to be ( hunger, poverty, etc) is ultimately the end cause of our societerial downfall - barring us discovering another planet to rape, kill and plunder. Perhaps we need to look at the bigger picture - whatever it is - that cannot be restricted by simply setting ideals of species expansion & individual development as the primary, inviolable objective.

Insensitivity to human suffering is not merely low species behavior, but highly impractical too. Even a cursory study of history tells you that when human societies have yawning gaps between the opulent and the destitute, and this exists over a period of time, and when growing population adds fuel to fire, there is a big social unrest waiting to happen. Possibly revolution too. India is a fertile territory for it, and when half a billion people find they cant give even basic amenities to their children, and are not going to be able to do it by conventional democratic and political process, would resort to extra legal means on a mass scale. This is already evident through the increase of Maoist / naxalite activity in central India. btw, helping or assisting others within whatever levels is not a goal, but a consequence of higher thinking societies who are evolved more in social consciousness.

[THX_1138]

Yes we can. What use is technology and science when 8 million children die each year purely due to hunger ? The world dumps millions of tonnes of food into the sea, but hasnt found a way to preserve or transport it to other places where it can save lives. Did you know that world poverty is the biggest challenge today, and not what we know from the Sun or moon . Of what use is the internet, if you havent typed the word "poverty" in google and seen how most of the world lives ? 3 billion people in this world live in moderate or extreme poverty...extreme poverty is defined as $1 or less per day. In fact in India 830 million people live on 50 cents a day. Somewhere in the world , a child dies every 3.5 seconds, not due to cancer, tumor or some disease, but JUST due to hunger related/malnutrition causes, every 3.5 seconds, and thats the time it takes you to type "poverty" in Google. and there cannot be a greater indictment of humanity itself that the world at large is silent on this. You see no headlines, no news items nothing at all, but every day more than 20,000 children die of hunger...and if this is the scenario, why should any country, IMO , invest in ridiculous ventures instead of showing evolved behavior by assisting fellow humans. This is gross, ugly and obscene

provide jobs to over a million IT professionals in India alone... and then appeal to their sense of duty to donate a part of their salaries into charity. oh and the other thing... taxes that help build schools, roads and infrastructure to hire more people. sampath if you knew zilch about economics, which you dont, you would know that government handing out free coupons and free food will only sustain the country to a certain extent, beyond that, it is a recipe for disaster and economic collapse.

[Guest HariSampath]

provide jobs to over a million IT professionals in India alone... and then appeal to their sense of duty to donate a part of their salaries into charity. oh and the other thing... taxes that help build schools, roads and infrastructure to hire more people. sampath if you knew zilch about economics, which you dont, you would know that government handing out free coupons and free food will only sustain the country to a certain extent, beyond that, it is a recipe for disaster and economic collapse.

Dude, I had argued successfully about the role of Govt regulation of economic/social systems with Milton Friedman in 1992....you know the Chicago school classical economist. btw... do you know who said " Capitalism, wisely managed provides the best means of attaining economic growth, but that is by itself in many ways objectionable" ?

[Guest HariSampath]

you would know that government handing out free coupons and free food will only sustain the country to a certain extent, beyond that, it is a recipe for disaster and economic collapse.

If you had followed my train of thought, I was suggesting not free handouts, but merely investing that amount of money on creating education opportunities, and such schemes with Govt participation that encourage small businesses, self employment etc. And as to your comment on IT creating 1 million jobs...tell me what has its impact been on reducing poverty levels ? that was my question. Apparently you havent grasped my thread of thought at all, and seem to think I am against technology itself. NO, like I said earlier, I am ALL for technology, but that it should result in tangible benefits for the terribly poor, and not just create new millionaires. In fact I have been working on several wireless projects with State and Central govts; and have in fact proposed a model of "mobile computer labs", vans equipped with 10 computers , and networked using WiMAX technology, ( a standard that provides air interface connectivity over 50 miles in line of sight) that can travel over 2500 sq miles over one month and bring 4 hours of computer usage to thousands of school children in remote villages. This cuts cost by 80% and increases reach by almost 10 times. If technology professionals can take up such businesses, instead of merely "donating", then we can say technology has indeed achieved its goal.

[THX_1138]

Dude, I had argued successfully about the role of Govt regulation of economic/social systems with Milton Friedman in 1992....you know the Chicago school classical economist. btw... do you know who said " Capitalism, wisely managed provides the best means of attaining economic growth, but that is by itself in many ways objectionable" ?

actually what i am suggesting is the absolute opposite of what Milton Friedman and the whole University of Chicago school of economics is about... i am a keynesian and the later dictates that appropriate government spending in public works is the ideal way to sustain growth.