India satellite rocket explodes after take-off (2011-08-28)

www.timesofearth.com NEW DELHI, INDIA -- A rocket carrying an Indian communications satellite exploded just after lift-off on Saturday, in the second launch failure for India's space programme this year. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) exploded in the first stage of flight, leaving a trail of smoke and fire behind it. It had just lifted off from the Sriharikota space centre on Saturday in Andhra Pradesh state, and was carrying a GSAT-5P communications satellite. K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO), said the rocket developed an error 47 seconds after initiating lift-off and lost command, leading to a higher angle in the flight. "That caused a higher stress, breaking up the vehicle," he said. He also said that the cause of the crash needed to be looked into in detail. A similar rocket on a developmental flight plunged into the Bay of Bengal in April. The ISRO said that accident was caused by a rotor seizing and a rupture in the turbine casing, probably due to excessive pressure and thermal stresses. Yashpal, a retired Indian scientist and independent commentator, said he was very disappointed by Saturday's failure, but that other countries have also experienced such problems. India is planning its first manned space flight in 2016. An Indian satellite launched in 2008 to orbit the moon was abandoned last year after communication links snapped and scientists lost control of the spacecraft. Since 1994, India's space ...

NASA launches spacecraft on 5-year trip to Jupiter (2011-08-13)

timesofearth.com Florida - NASA has launched an unmanned spacecraft to Jupiter to collect data on how the planets in our solar system were formed, reports the AFP news agency. The probe, named Juno after the wife of the Roman god Jupiter, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:25pm (16:25 GMT) on Friday. The craft will travel around the sun for two years before setting course for Jupiter - which it will reach in July 2016. By the journey's end, Juno will have travelled more than 716-million kilometres. Jupiter, the fifth planet from the sun, was described by a NASA television commentator as "a planetary piece of the puzzle on the beginning of our solar system". When Juno reaches its final destination, it will orbit at roughly 5000km and utilise a host of instruments to learn more about the planet. NASA wants to map its magnetic field, determine how much water it contains and identify what makes up the planet's core. "We're really looking for the recipe for planet formation," Scott Bolton, Juno's lead scientist, said. "We're going after the ingredients of Jupiter by getting the water abundance as well as very precise measurements of the gravity field that will help us understand whether there's a core of heavy elements or a core of rocks in the middle of Jupiter." The measurements will help scientists determine what the early solar system looked like and how Jupiter, believed to be the first planet to form, was created, reports Reuters news agency ...